Away and Back
by Teddylonglong
Summary: When Harry and Hermione help Sirius escape at the end of their third Hogwarts year, matters play out a little differently, and Harry decides to join Sirius. Absolutely AU with Sirius, Remus, Hermione and Harry completely changing the future. AU, partly time-travel. Pairing: HP-HG
1. Chapter 1

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Hermione**

Hermione remained pensive, while she and Harry were waiting for their counterparts to come out of the Shrieking Shack.

' _Oh no, how stupid were we?_ ' she suddenly thought, as she pictured the scene where Remus transformed into his werewolf form in front of her mind. ' _I need to remedy that as well,_ ' she resolved in determination.

"Mione, you okay?" Harry asked, giving her a concerned look.

"Of course," she responded, crisply, readying her wand for the task ahead. ' _I should have brought a jacket,_ ' she thought, absentmindedly, noticing that the air had become fairly cool.

"What are you doing?" her best friend enquired in apparent confusion.

"Wait a moment," she whispered back, as she pointed her wand at Remus Lupin, determined to take his wand from him before Pettigrew could get to it. "Shit," she cursed, uncharacteristically, upon realising that she had been a tad too late, and the Animagus was already changing into his rat form. She quickly stunned the rat before casting, "Accio rat."

None of their other selves noticed Peter Pettigrew in his rat form flying into her outstretched hand.

"Oh Merlin, well done, Mione," Harry blurted out. "Maybe if we can present him, people will believe Sirius."

"Exactly," Hermione replied, coolly, setting the rat on the ground, before she transfigured it into a wooden rat, which easily fit into her pocket. "We need to hand him to Dumbledore, so that he can prove Sirius' innocence."

"Look!" Harry suddenly hissed, pointing towards the werewolf and the dog who were fighting close by.

"Come quickly," Hermione replied, already running further into the wood to distract the werewolf.

 **Harry**

A while later, Harry and Hermione were standing by the lake, observing the Dementors descend onto Harry's other self and Sirius, while at the same time waiting for James Potter to show up and cast the Patronus charm.

"Harry, he won't come," Hermione urged. "We need to think of something by ourselves."

 _'But I saw Dad,_ ' Harry mused, envisioning the scene that he had witnessed three hours earlier, only to recognise that the caster of the spell had been wearing the same clothes like his other self, whom he had watched at Hagrid's hut and in front of the Shrieking Shack during the last three hours.

"Mione," he blurted out in shock. "He won't come. It's me whom I saw casting the spell."

Recalling how Sirius had offered him a new home, the idea of never having to return to the Dursleys' turned into the best memory which he could remember, fuelling his Patronus to a beautiful stag.

' _If we manage to get Sirius away, I'm going to leave with him_ ,' he decided, as he let his magic flow into his wand to keep up the stag, which was still chasing away the Dementors. ' _I won't let Snape harass me anymore because of some petty childhood quarrel which he seemed to have had with Sirius and my parents. I also won't have the Dementors prevent me from flying again._ '

"Harry, this was beautiful," Hermione said, admiringly, when the stag returned to Harry upon finishing his task. "What kind of magic is that?"

"The Patronus charm," Harry replied in a soft voice, smiling as he observed the stag slowly vanish into thin air. "Professor Lupin taught me how to cast it, after the Dementors caused me to fall from my broom."

"That's absolutely amazing," Hermione said in clear admiration, "do you think you could teach me, too?"

Harry remained pensive for a moment, while they slowly began their trip back to the castle.

"I'm not sure if I'm able to teach you, but you could always ask Professor Lupin," he finally replied, not wanting to promise anything that he might not be able to keep, considering that he was thinking of running away with Sirius.

 **Hermione**

"Harry, are you sure that it's safe to ride on Buckbeak?" Hermione asked, timidly, when Harry urged her to sit on the hippogriff together with him.

"Absolutely," the boy reassured her, and an instant later, the bird gently took them into the air.

"I don't like flying," she mumbled, holding Harry's shirt in a firm grip, when they flew close along the castle's walls.

"It's all right, and we're already there," Harry replied, smiling. "Look, there he is."

A few minutes later, they were back descending towards the ground, this time with Sirius sitting between them.

"Hermione," Harry addressed her in a small voice, which she could barely understand against the wind that was soaring around the castle, "I'm going to go with Sirius."

"What?" Hermione queried, horrified. "But Harry, you can't…"

"I can and I will," her best friend replied, firmly.

"You're going to come back in September though, aren't you?" she enquired.

"I don't think so," Harry replied, letting out a long sigh.

"How can I contact you?" she asked, slightly panicking at the thought of losing her best friend forever.

"You can't," Sirius spoke up. "Harry will contact you though. He will write to you under the name Jonathan Granger. If anyone sees you getting mail from him, you can always say that he was your cousin. As soon as we've set up a way for Harry to safely receive mail, he'll tell you so," he promised in a soft voice.

"All right, thank you," Hermione uttered, wondering if she had somehow ended up having a nightmare.

"And during the summer, you're welcome to visit us," Sirius added. "Can you give a message to Professor Lupin please?"

"Of course," Hermione replied, wearily, giving the older wizard a questioning look.

"Tell him that we're going to live in my old place and that he's welcome to join us at any time," Sirius instructed her.

"Will he know where that is?" Hermione asked, unsurely.

"He will, but only he. Everyone else will assume a different place if you tell them that," Sirius assured her, chuckling mischievously. "All right, Hermione, we're off now."

"Harry, what about your belongings?" Hermione asked, worriedly biting her lip.

"I'll send Dobby for it," Harry replied, already ushering Buckbeak back into the air. "He'll probably come to me if I call him."

"He surely will," Hermione replied, sadly watching her best friend leave with his godfather.

Somehow, the castle seemed cold and empty to her, as the clock began to chime and she hurriedly returned to the hospital wing, knowing that she had to arrive on time like the headmaster had instructed her earlier.

 _tbc..._

 _Plesae be so kind and leave a review, as reviews feed my muse and help her write a story until completion. Thank you in advance!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Away and Back  
** **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Sirius**

"Harry, I can't thank you enough for what you and Hermione have done for me tonight," Sirius shouted against the wind, as they flew in a south-west direction. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Harry replied, smiling, observing how the full moon reflected in the lake. _'Flying on Buckbeak is even better than on a broom,'_ he thought, suddenly feeling very happy. "Sirius, where are we going?" he suddenly remembered to ask. "To your parents' house?"

Sirius chuckled. "No Harry, my parents' place has never really been my home," he informed his godson. "The only home that I ever knew was Potter Manor."

"Potter Manor?" Harry enquired, seemingly incredulous. "I didn't know such a place even existed."

"It was your grandparents house," Sirius explained. "They took me in when my own parents kicked me out when I was about your age. Ever since then, James and I grew up like brothers."

"Won't that be the first place for people to look for us?" Harry worried, causing Sirius to laugh.

"No, they won't. I don't think anyone but the Marauders really noticed that it was what I thought of my home. Maybe McGonagall knew, but I don't think so."

"All right then, Potter Manor, we're coming," Harry shouted, as he snuggled deeply into the hippogriff's fur.

 **Hermione**

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione blurted out, when she almost collided with the headmaster at the door to the hospital wing. "We managed to save the two lives, and I caught Peter Pettigrew," she hurried to explain, unsure if she should inform the headmaster that Harry had left together with Sirius. _'I probably better give them a few hours to get to safety,'_ she finally decided.

"You caught Peter Pettigrew? Are the rumours true that he's alive?" the headmaster enquired in a strict voice, his face clouding with what seemed to be a combination of disbelief and anger, which Hermione could not fully comprehend.

"Yes sir," she replied, hurriedly pulling the wooden rat out of her pocket. "This is Peter Pettigrew. Please be careful, as he's a rat Animagus."

"Peter Pettigrew is supposed to be dead," Dumbledore replied, sounding impatient. "Ms. Granger, please accompany me to my office and tell me the whole story about this rat."

 _'I just hope he won't somehow let him get away,'_ Hermione thought, worriedly. ' _Maybe he doesn't want Sirius to be free and able to get more influence on Harry. He'd surely prefer having him stay at the Dursleys' over the summer.'_

To her surprise, however, once Dumbledore had heard everything, he summoned the Minister of Magic as well as two Aurors, whom he introduced as Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt, before he made her tell the whole story once again.

"Ms. Granger, did you stun the rat before transfiguring it?" Tonks enquired, eyeing the wooden rat with apparent interest.

"Very good transformation for a third-year, by the way," Dumbledore mumbled, nodding his head in apparent appreciation.

"Yes, I did," Hermione assured the Auror, who immediately transfigured the rat back to Scabbers and further into his human form.

"Let's revive him and question him under Veritaserum," Shacklebolt demanded, giving the headmaster a questioning look.

"Let me summon Professor Snape for the Veritaserum," Dumbledore replied and headed to the fireplace.

 _'I just hope this will be over soon,'_ Hermione thought, unable to suppress a shudder at the sight of the short wizard in front of her. ' _He's responsible for the Potters' death,'_ she recalled, eyeing the man with disgust.

However, the Aurors used the opportunity to thoroughly question Pettigrew, not only to be able to have him kissed immediately, but also to have Sirius Black's name cleared at the same time.

It was almost an hour later that the Aurors took Pettigrew out onto the grounds for the Dementors to kiss him, while the Minister of Magic grudgingly declared Sirius Black innocent and promised compensation for the Ministry's misjudgement of twelve years before.

"He really should have a trial though," he said, indignantly.

"Because he didn't have one twelve years ago?" Dumbledore asked, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Really Cornelius, don't try my patience."

"Should Pettigrew's statement and what Sirius told me not be enough?" Hermione enquired, inwardly rolling her eyes at the Minister of Magic.

"And we're supposed to believe a thirteen-year-old witch?" Fudge asked, haughtily.

"I'm fourteen, just for your information, and yes, since it was me whom Sirius spoke to, I'm afraid you must," Hermione replied, icily, feeling extremely upset with the Minister of Magic. "Good night, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape," she added, turning to the door.

"Good night, Ms. Granger," the headmaster replied in a soft voice.

"What an idiot," she contemplated, half-aloud, as she left the office, shaking her head in exasperation. "Throwing the wrong man into Azkaban for a whole decade."

"I've nothing to add," Dumbledore mumbled in her direction, right before Hermione shut the door with a loud bang.

 **Harry**

Several hours into their flight, Harry drifted off to sleep, cuddled into Sirius and Buckbeak. He only woke up, when Buckbeak made a soft landing on the ground.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, sleepily looking at his surroundings.

"I had Buckbeak fly right into the park behind Potter Manor," Sirius explained, smirking. "Fortunately, the wards still accepted both of us through."

"And Buckbeak?" Harry queried. "Wouldn't he have to be accepted by the wards?"

"No." Sirius shook his head. "Since he's a magical animal and I suppose that the manor isn't specifically warded against hippogriffs, he's all right."

They both ended up laughing.

"Now, let's go inside. I hope that there'll still be house-elves around after so many years," Sirius finally said, letting out a long sigh, as he led Harry towards the back door, casting "Alohomora" to enter the house.

Harry curiously followed him into what seemed to be a large kitchen, just when a house-elf popped up in front of them.

"Master Sirius," the elf said, bowing deeply. "And Master Harry?" she enquired, giving Harry a questioning look.

"Gina," Sirius replied, grinning broadly. "Yes, this is my godson Harry."

"Oh my, you've become so big," the elf acknowledged, beaming at the boy. "I is Head house-elf Gina," she introduced herself to Harry, "and I'm very happy that you finally came back. Will you stay here?"

"We'd like to live here if you don't mind," Sirius responded, nodding. "For the time being, no one is supposed to know about it though. Are the other elves still around, too?"

"Yes of course. Everyone has been waiting for you and Master Harry to return," Gina replied, smiling. "We'll prepares your old room for you and the master bedroom for Master Harry?" she enquired.

"No Gina, please just prepare the room next to Sirius' for me, just a normal room," Harry instructed her, thanking the elf profusely, when she gave him a nod in understanding, before she left with a small pop.

"Sirius, do you think it would be all right if I called Dobby here?" Harry asked, hesitantly, quickly relaying the story how he had freed the poor elf almost a year ago.

"Sure, but you better tell Gina beforehand, otherwise, she might assume that you're not happy with her," Sirius replied, shrugging. "Let's go to our rooms and get some sleep first; it's fairly late."

' _That's true; it's almost morning_ ,' Harry thought, yawning, as he followed Sirius through the largest house that he had ever seen besides Hogwarts.

 **Hermione**

"Professor Lupin, are you leaving?" Hermione enquired, looking around the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office in shock.

Remus Lupin smiled at his best student. "My predicament is all over the school now. Professor Snape saw to it. Therefore, it's only a matter of time before the letters from the parents will arrive to complain about a werewolf being a professor at Hogwarts. I better leave beforehand."

Hermione cleared her throat. "Sirius instructed me to tell you that you could find them at his old home. You were the only person who'd know where that was, and you'd be very welcome to join them."

"Them?" Lupin enquired, quirking an eyebrow.

"Harry left with him," Hermione admitted. "I thought that it would be common knowledge by now, but apparently, no one realised that he's missing yet."

"Thank you for telling me," the former professor replied, smiling. "I'm sure that you'll also be very welcome to visit over the summer holidays. You'll hear from us."

Hermione hesitated, but finally asked the question that came into her mind. "Are you going to live together with them?"

"I probably will," Remus confirmed. "They're family to me. The only family I have." Seemingly hesitating, he added, "And the house has all the facilities which I need during the full moon."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Good luck, Professor, and please know that you've been the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor we ever had so far."

"That's nice to hear, but since I'm not your professor anymore, you can just call me Remus," the man offered, as he readied himself to leave the office with his luggage shrunken in his robe pocket.

 **Ron**

"Where were you?" Ron asked, indignantly, when Hermione rushed into the hospital wing after her last morning class.

"In class?" she replied, seemingly surprised.

"Last night," Ron insisted. "You never came back after you and Harry left."

"We freed Buckbeak and Sirius and caught Pettigrew. He's been kissed last night," Hermione explained, smiling.

"Who? Pettigrew?" Ron asked, somehow feeling terrified at the idea. ' _He was my pet for many years,_ ' he thought, sadly.

"Yes, thank Merlin," Hermione replied, looking satisfied.

"Harry didn't come by either," Ron complained, feeling neglected by his best friends and a little sorry for himself.

"Harry isn't at Hogwarts anymore," Hermione informed him. "He left together with Sirius."

"He what?" Ron asked, incredulously. "Where did they go?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've no idea."

"Did Dumbledore allow him to leave for the summer already?" Ron enquired. "Maybe I should ask Mum to take me home, too."

"Ron, it has nothing to do with Dumbledore," Hermione replied, seemingly impatient. "Dumbledore probably doesn't even know that Harry left yet. He quit Hogwarts or that's at least what he said last night. He told me he'd write when they're settled."

' _Why would Harry leave Hogwarts?_ ' Ron thought, incredulously. ' _I'm his best friend, and I'm still here._ '

 **Harry**

When they had arrived during the night, Harry had been so tired that he went straight to bed without appreciating his surroundings at all. However, when he woke up, sunshine turned the room into a bright light, making him look around in curiosity. He found himself in a large room, which held about the size of the Dursleys' living room. It was equipped with furniture in different shades of blue as well a balcony that led out into the park and gave view onto what seemed to be a river behind a row of pine trees.

' _Wow_ ,' he thought in amazement. ' _This is really beautiful_.'

Casting a tempus charm at the wall next to his bed, he realised in disbelief that it was already beyond lunchtime. _'Oh Merlin, I better go and look what Sirius is up to,'_ he thought and hurriedly entered the bathroom, which was attached to his room, to ready himself for the day.

He found Sirius in the kitchen, where he was sitting around the table together with Remus. A huge plate with sandwiches sat on the table in front of the two Marauders.

"Professor Lupin?" he asked in surprise, wondering why Remus was not at the school.

"Harry, I'm not your professor anymore," the older wizard replied, gently. "As Professor Snape spread word about my furry problem everywhere, I wasn't able to remain at the school anymore."

"What?" Harry blurted out, angrily. "That bastard. I'll see to it that we get back at him in the near future."

"We'll do that," Sirius spoke up, grinning. "Let's have breakfast first though, shall we?"

"All right," Harry agreed, letting himself sink into the chair between the two men.

"Did the two of you make any plans how to proceed from here?" Remus enquired, looking at Sirius and Harry with apparent curiosity. "Harry still needs to study for his OWLs and NEWTs."

"Yes, our plan was that you teach him," Sirius replied, grinning broadly. "You're a professor after all. I believe that I'm going to teach some people a lesson, beginning with the Minister of Magic and last but not least Snape."

"His behaviour is atrocious," Harry mumbled, nodding his head in agreement.

Remus shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. "Dumbledore believes that he's on our side, even if he let his differences with James dictate his behaviour towards Harry. I believe that instead of planning revenge, you should use your time on positive matters."

"Like what?" Harry asked, curiously.

"Ahhh," Sirius replied in apparent understanding. "You mean that I should try to find a charm to bring James back from the dead."

"Sirius!" Remus lightly scolded his friend. "Don't be sarcastic. The idea isn't bad though, even if impossible. Maybe you can do some research on time travel though. If you could invent a spell, charm, potion or whatever to travel through the sands of time, perhaps it would be possible to bring James and Lily here into the future."

"Time travel?" Harry asked with bewilderment. "Is such a thing even possible?" In fact, he had never considered the possibility.

"So far not," Sirius replied, smirking. "But I'll be sure to work on it. I think I'm going to try inventing a charm though."

"Sirius was always very good at Charms," Remus explained.

"Sirius," Harry spoke up pensively, "maybe we could invite Hermione here over the summer holidays. She's brilliant at school. Perhaps she could help you."

"Let's do that," Sirius agreed, easily. "Don't get your hopes up though. It won't be easy. It might take years or won't ever happen at all."

"I know," Harry replied in a soft voice, thinking, ' _It would be just amazing if they could bring my parents here. I'd so love to meet them. Sirius and Remus are nuts though. If such a thing as travel through time was possible, many wizards before us would have succeeded, and we'd have heard about it. I bet McGonagall would have gone to visit Godric Gryffindor if it was at all possible._ '

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so very much for the overwhelming reviews! Please be so kind and continue feeding my muse, so that I'll be able to continue and eventually finish this story. Thank you all._


	3. Chapter 3

**Away and Back**

by Teddylonglong

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Minerva McGonagall**

"Minerva?"

Minerva looked up in surprise, when the Potions Master, who usually remained rather quiet during mealtimes, addressed her in a quiet voice.

"What is it?" he whispered back, feeling extremely upset towards the younger wizard. "Are you happy now that you made Remus leave?"

"Yes," Severus admitted, smirking. "Where's the Potter brat by the way? He didn't show up for any meal today."

"What?" Minerva blurted out, staring at the Gryffindor table in disbelief.

 _'Well, Hermione is sitting with Ginny, Ron is still in the hospital wing; where in the world is Harry?_ ' she wondered.

"I suppose that he has been abducted by Sirius Black," Severus added, sneering.

After a barely audible "Excuse me," she rose from her chair and walked over to her house table. "Ms. Granger, where is Mr. Potter?" she asked, crisply.

To her horror, the girl merely shook her head. "I don't know, Professor," she then replied. "I haven't seen him since last night."

"Mr. Longbottom, have you seen Mr. Potter?" the teacher turned to the boy who was sharing a dormitory with the missing pupil.

"No Professor," Neville stammered. "He had already left when I woke up this morning, and I haven't seen him ever since."

 _'Oh no,'_ Minerva thought, horrified. _'What can have happened to him? I just hope the Dementors didn't kiss him together with Pettigrew last night.'_

 **Hermione**

Hermione could not help thinking of Harry. ' _I know that he's with Sirius, but he spent the last twelve years in Azkaban. Will he be mentally all right to look after Harry?_ ' she worried, while she attempted to sleep in vain, expecting to be called to the headmaster's office to explain where her best friend was at any time now.

The fact that she had not heard from Harry since she had last seen him on Buckbeak's back twenty-four hours ago did not help soothe her concerns.

In the morning, however, she received a letter from a certain Jonathan Granger.

' _From Harry,_ ' she thought with a combination of relief and excitement and hurriedly finished her breakfast to enjoy the peace and quiet of an unused classroom to read her letter.

 _'Hi Hermione,  
everything is perfect here. Moony is teaching me, while Padfoot is working on some Charms research project. It is very difficult, and he needs your help though. In any case, we'd like to ask you if you would mind spending the summer with us?  
Please give your response to Dobby. You can just call him, even if you are in the Muggle world.  
Love  
Harry'_

' _Of course, I'd love to spend the summer with them_ ,' Hermione thought, happily, knowing that her parents would be away on some congress for at least two weeks and probably mostly busy the rest of the time.

She quickly pulled an empty parchment and a quill out of her bag and scribbled,

 _'Dear Jonathan,  
thank you so much for writing. I'd love to spend the summer with you. How will I get there though?  
Love  
Hermione'_

"Dobby," she quickly called the elf, who appeared in a heartbeat. "Thanks for coming so quickly. Please give this to Harry," she whispered, urgently.

"Of course, Harry Potter's best friend. Dobby will give it to him right away," Dobby replied and popped away with a loud crack.

 _'Oh Merlin, I'm running late,_ ' Hermione suddenly realised and ran through the empty corridors, only catching her breath, when she reached the Potions classroom. To her horror, the corridor in front of the classroom was empty, telling her that she was late for the class.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness," Snape greeted her, when she hesitantly opened the door and slipped into the classroom.

"Sorry sir," she mumbled and took her seat, realising in surprise that she was not sorry at all.

 **Remus**

"Moony, can you do me a favour?" Sirius asked on their second morning at Potter Manor, when the three wizards were having breakfast in the kitchen.

"Of course," Remus replied, giving his best friend a questioning look.

"Go to Gringotts and speak with Buckbean," Sirius instructed him. "He's the Potters' account manager at Gringotts. Please ask him to see to it that the guardianship over Harry will be granted to me. I know, you told me that the Minister proclaimed me to be innocent and free, but I don't want to take any risk. Perhaps Buckbean could check that out for me as well."

"I'll go and talk to him," Remus promised. "Maybe he won't even see me without you or Harry with me, but I'll try."

"Thanks Remus," Sirius replied, nodding his head in apparent appreciation. "You may tell him the truth by the way. As the Potters' account manager, he's bond to respecting Harry's privacy."

"Very well," Remus agreed and left the kitchen to ready himself for his trip to Diagon Alley.

HP

Remus was lucky, and Buckbean did indeed take the time to meet him in his office.

"Remus Lupin," Buckbean said, pensively, "I know your name." Apparently realising that Remus gave him a questioning look, he elaborated, "You were mentioned in the Potters' will. I know, it has never been read, because Albus Dumbledore forbade me to do so in his position as the head of the Wizengamot."

Remus nodded, gravely. "May I see it?" he asked, carefully.

"Considering that you're mentioned in it, I can show it to you," Buckbean conceded. He walked around his desk and pulled a parchment from one of a couple of drawers hidden in the opposite wall. "Here," he said, handing it over to Remus.

Remus quietly read his once best friends' will, before his curiosity turned into anger that made him continue to read aloud.

 _'Sirius Black as Harry's godfather or Alice Longbottom as his godmother will take care of Harry in case something happens to us. If neither of them is capable of doing so, he shall be placed with Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones or Minerva McGonagall. Under no circumstances is Harry to be given to Lily's sister Petunia Dursley and her atrocious husband…'_

"What in the world was Dumbledore thinking acting against their will?" he asked the goblin, his eyes blazing with anger.

"I know," Buckbean agreed, letting out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, but there was nothing that I could do about it. Now that Mr. Black is free, however…"

"Is he really free?" Remus enquired, sceptically.

"Oh well," Buckbean replied, sighing again, "in fact, I heard rumours from Hogwarts that Professor Snape accused him of kidnapping Harry Potter. However, I suppose that Mr. Potter can easily prove that the accusation is false, so that Mr. Black will be granted custody."

 **Harry**

Harry was just writing a letter to Hermione, when Dobby popped up in front of him.

"Harry Potter musts comes with Dobby to see Buckbean, Harry Potter's account manager," Dobby told him in apparent excitement.

"Why Dobby?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

"Professor Snape sir has accused Sirius Black of kidnapping Harry Potter, and Harry Potter musts signs a declaration that he has not been abducted but lefts Hogwarts on his own free will," Dobby explained, causing Harry to nod in understanding.

"Gina," he called the head house-elf, who appeared in a blink. "Gina, please tell Sirius that Dobby takes me to Gringotts to meet with Remus and Buckbean," Harry instructed her, before he nodded to Dobby. "I'm ready."

HP

Harry's first impression was that Buckbean seemed to be very friendly for a goblin. He had already prepared the statement for Harry to sign, and Harry quickly added his signature under the text.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Buckbean said, as he handed the parchment along with some other papers to another goblin.

Turning to Remus, he added, "I suggest placing Potter Manor under the Fidelius charm anew. It would mean to be on the safe side."

"Is the old Fidelius charm not working anymore?" Remus enquired.

Buckbean remained pensive for a moment, before admitting, "A new Fidelius charm is always safer than one cast by a person, who is not among us anymore. Are you able to cast the charm?"

Remus nodded. "Yes."

"Then I suggest that you cast the charm with Harry as the Secret Keeper," Buckbean concluded. "If you have any trouble, please feel free to contact me. I will always help the Potters, including their godfathers."

"Thank you very much," Remus and Harry replied, simultaneously.

"Buckbean," Harry spoke up, when they reached the door to leave, "do you by chance know anything about time travel?"

"Time travel?" the goblin repeated, quirking an eyebrow in apparent surprise.

"Yes sir," Harry replied and admitted what Sirius was trying to invent.

Buckbean remained thoughtful for a few minutes, and Harry felt very self-conscious standing in the goblin's office waiting, when the goblin finally replied.

"Maybe it would be advisable to study the charms of the Knight Bus," he said in a firm voice, causing Harry to inwardly groan.

' _What does that have to do with time travel?_ ' he thought, incredulously, feeling that the goblin was kidding him.

They once again thanked the goblin and left the bank.

"Is he nuts?" Harry complained, when they stepped out into the alley, which was not very crowded, compared with the times when Harry had been there before. _'Well, of course, the holidays are only going to begin tomorrow,'_ he thought, smirking.

"Let's go home quickly. Hold on Harry," Remus said instead of an answer and quickly apparated them to the front gate of the manor.

"I don't think that he's nuts," he then replied, seemingly pensive. "Maybe the goblins know more about time travel than us."

 **Hermione**

Noticing in relief that Ron had been released from the hospital wing and was sitting at the Gryffindor table, Hermione hurried to take the empty seat next to him.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you both right after lunch," Professor McGonagall informed her in a crisp voice, causing Hermione to look up in surprise.

 _'I didn't even see her coming,'_ she thought, before obediently responding, "Yes Professor."

"Oh no, that's not good," Ron whispered in understanding.

"We know nothing," Hermione whispered back firmly, giving the boy a sharp look.

"Of course not," Ron agreed, nodding in confirmation.

HP

Not feeling very hungry anymore, Hermione ushered Ron out of the Great Hall, as soon as she saw that Professor Dumbledore left. They quietly walked up to the headmaster's office.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, how nice of you to visit me," Dumbledore greeted them and motioned them to a seat before offering each of them a lemon drop, which Hermione declined, feeling almost disgusted when Ron accepted one.

"Mr. Potter has been missing since the night when you freed Sirius," Dumbledore began to speak. "Do you know what happened? Did he perhaps tell one of you that he intended to leave?"

Seeing Hermione exchange a questioning look with Ron, he added, "Ms. Granger, when was it that you last saw Mr. Potter?"

"I saw him after we freed Sirius, right before Sirius was supposed to leave with Buckbeak," Hermione replied, feeling that it was not even a lie.

"Why did you leave him to return to the hospital wing just by yourself?" the professor queried, giving her a sharp look.

"They were talking," Hermione replied, "and I knew that I had to be back on time to meet you and hand over Pettigrew." ' _That sounds reasonable enough,_ ' she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes, when Snape entered the office.

"Severus, please join us," Dumbledore greeted him. "Harry didn't tell his friends what he intended to do. Maybe Sirius indeed abducted him."

"Wouldn't that be the best that could have happened to him?" Ron spoke up, choppily. "He was abused by the Dursleys at home, by Professor Snape at Hogwarts, so maybe now he can have a real life for himself."

"What? You insolent…"

"Please Severus, leave it," Dumbledore interrupted the Slytherin. "We still don't know what happened, so I'm going to alert the Ministry about the fact that Harry is missing and that Sirius might have him."

"Maybe you can convince them to have him kissed for abducting the saviour of the magical world," the Potions Master replied, seemingly grumpier than usual.

Hermione almost jumped in surprise, when a large, brown bird popped up right in front of Dumbledore, holding out a foot, to which a parchment was attached.

"Gringotts. The goblins use some spell to make their owls apparate," the headmaster explained, mumbling absentmindedly, as he took the letter from the owl, which immediately vanished from the spot.

Hermione curiously observed how Dumbledore unfolded the parchment, before his expression changed to pure anger, as he skimmed the writing.

"Harry Potter has just signed a document in front of Buckbean, the Potters' account manager at Gringotts, that he has left Hogwarts out of his own free will in contrary to Severus Snape's accusation that he had been abducted by Sirius Black," he read, seemingly furious.

Hermione was shocked to notice how the foundations of the castle suddenly began to shake, before the windows surrounding the outer part of the headmaster's office shattered into pieces.

 **Draco Malfoy**

"Draco, what's that?" Blaise asked, seemingly horrified, when the whole castle began to shake, just when they left the Great Hall.

The two boys quickly ducked into a nearby alcove, hoping that what seemed to be an earthquake did not make the castle collapse on top of them.

"Maybe Dumbledore just found out what happened to Potter," Draco replied, smirking, as he did not want to admit to Blaise just how scared he was. "He might be powerful enough to make the castle shake, not to mention angry enough if something happened to his precious golden boy."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Blaise enquired, giving him a look of pure curiosity.

"I don't have a clue," Draco replied, pensively, not sure if it would be all right to voice his thoughts in front of Blaise.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Blaise blurted out, when the movement stopped as sudden as it had begun.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you all so very much for your encouragement and help by reviewing. My muse really needs it, and I appreciate it very much. If you don't mind, I would like you to tell me which of the students you would like to be in this story apart from Harry and Hermione. Any opinions would be nice. Thank you :-)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 _ **AN:** For those who are new to my stories: "HP" is my usual divider (coming from Harry Potter in combination with my former user name Healer Pomfrey) and does not change the person whose POV is written._

 _ **AN2:** The previous chapter was only posted yesterday. If you have not read it yet, please go back and read chapter 3 first._

* * *

 **Albus Dumbledore**

It was more from the shocked faces of his companions than else that Albus realised what had happened. With a flick of his wand, the windows were restored to their usual state, and the foundation of the castle calmed down once more.

"I'm sorry about that," he said in a quiet voice, before addressing Fawkes. "Fawkes, please go and bring Harry Potter here immediately."

The phoenix gave him a nod of understanding, before he paused and finally replied, #I'm sorry, Albus, but I can sense him being behind a Fidelius charm. I can't reach him.#

Albus let out a deep sigh of exasperation, before he continued, "Very well, Fawkes, please remain alert, and as soon you sense that Harry leaves the house, which is protected by the Fidelius charm, go and fetch him."

#All right, Albus,# Fawkes replied, obediently.

"Knowing Potter, he won't remain put for long, before he leaves the house to galivant through Diagon Alley or wherever," Severus sneered, causing Albus to nod in agreement.

"Probably yes," he concurred. Turning to the two children, he added, "If you write to him, which I will do as well of course, please tell him that it is very important that he returns to the Dursleys' over the summer."

"Why would he return to that hellhole?" Ronald Weasley spoke up in apparent annoyance.

"They starve and abuse him," Miss Granger added, causing Severus to let out a snort.

"Be that as it may," Albus replied, as patiently as possible considering the situation, "he's protected by blood wards, which keep him safe even during the school year. He needs to be with his aunt for at least a month every year. Oh well, don't worry. I'll try everything to bring him back here safely," he added, even if he wasn't certain if that promise would ease the two students' minds.

 **Hermione**

As soon as they were released from the headmaster's office, Hermione hurried back to the Gryffindor common room, not caring that she was about to miss History of Magic.

"But Hermione…" Ron weakly protested, making her pull him into an empty alcove.

"Ron, it's most important and urgent that I write to Harry and tell him not to leave wherever he is," she hissed at the boy. "Now go to class, and I'll catch up with you later."

Mumbling something that sounded "I'm his best friend," Ron finally trolled away, and Hermione returned to the deserted common room to compose her letter.

 _'Dear Harry,  
please do not leave where you are in any case. Dumbledore announced that he will try everything possible to bring you back here and take you back to your relatives'. Please listen and take as much precaution as possible._

 _Love  
Hermione'_

 **Remus**

Harry let out a deep sigh, as he let the letter sink, which Dobby had just delivered. "Dumbledore wants to find me with whatever method it takes," he informed Remus and Sirius. "So, I'll just be stuck here I suppose."

Everyone remained quiet for a moment, before Remus spoke up. "I'll go to Gringotts and speak with Buckbean once again. We obviously can't use Polyjuice potion on Harry, because Fawkes would be able to sense him even if his appearance was different. But perhaps the goblins have a different charm or spell, which they could apply on Harry."

"Please do so," Sirius agreed immediately.

"Yes please," Harry echoed. He handed Remus a small parchment. "I've written it down for Hermione, but please show it to Buckbean in case he needs to visit us here, considering that it would be foolish for me to go to Diagon Alley."

HP

"Mr. Lupin, thank you for allowing me to know the address of Potter Manor," Buckbean said, lightly bowing his head. "Indeed, I know a charm that would make Mr. Potter completely safe everywhere."

"What is it, please?" Remus asked, eagerly.

"It's called the Kakurembo charm, a goblin charm that is similar to the Fidelius charm, however, it doesn't place a building into the charm but the person themselves," Buckbean explained. "People who aren't let in on the secret, won't be able to see, hear or smell them. Even a phoenix would be fooled by this charm."

"What is the problem with this charm?" Remus enquired, worried that there might be negative aspects.

"Nothing," Buckbean replied, grinning broadly. "It might be a tad more annoying for you, because, in order to let someone into the secret, they must come to see me, so that I can cast a certain spell at them. Now, considering that these people can't see or hear Mr. Potter before I cast the charm, it would be either you or Mr. Black to have to bring them to me."

"I understand," Remus said, quietly. "Buckbean, I'm sorry if this means a lot of trouble for you, but would you be willing to do this for us?"

"Of course," the goblin assured him, as he stepped around the desk and offered Remus his hand. "Let me apparate us to Potter Manor to proceed with the charm."

 **Hermione**

"We'll be off to work then, dear. Keep in contact. I expect an owl from you at least every second day."

"Will do. It's all right Mum, I'll be fine," Hermione replied, smiling, when her parents left for their practice.

 _'I wonder when I'm supposed to visit Harry and Sirius,_ ' she mused, deciding to have another cup of tea before heading upstairs into her room.

Just a few minutes later, Dobby materialised in front of her.

"Good morning, Harry Potter's Mione," he said, happily, causing her to chuckle at his new version of greeting.

"Hello Dobby," she replied, smiling.

"Harry tolds me to shows you this," Dobby explained, holding out a small piece of parchment.

 _'Potter Manor is situated on Shannon Banks, County Claire, Ireland'_ was written in Harry's scrawl, to which Hermione was well used by now.

 _'Potter Manor is in Ireland?'_ she thought, incredulously, noticing that the parchment vanished from her hand into thin air. She voiced her question, causing Dobby to bob his head up and down in apparent excitement.

"Yes, Harry Potter's Mione, that's true," he confirmed, only to add, "Dobby is been told to brings Harry Potter's Mione to Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Harry Potter."

"All right, Dobby, let me just get my luggage," Hermione replied and dashed upstairs, glad that she had not bothered to unpack yet. To her surprise, Dobby followed her upstairs and pointed his hand at her luggage, which vanished from the spot. Before she had even realised that he had to have sent it to Potter Manor, he held out his hand for her.

"Cans we leaves?" he asked, sounding very eager.

"Yes, of course," she replied in surprise at the elf's apparent excitement, reaching for his hands.

HP

Just an instant later, the world around her began to turn and finally vanish from the sight, causing her to instinctively close her eyes. When she felt the movement stop and blinked, she found herself standing in what seemed to be a large park, right next to Sirius and Remus.

"Hermione, thank Merlin you managed to come here, safely," Sirius greeted her, pulling her into a light hug.

"Hello Hermione," Remus added, smiling.

"Did your parents agree that you stay with us over the holidays?" Sirius enquired, eyeing the girl with apparent curiosity.

"Yes," Hermione replied, smiling. "They're quite busy at the moment. They want me to write to them regularly though."

She looked around with curiosity, before asking, "Where's Harry?"

Sirius grinned. "He's, in fact, standing right next to you. But he's under some kind of goblin charm that makes him invisible to everyone who hasn't been let in on the secret."

"Oh," Hermione replied in surprise, before she looked in the direction of where she supposed Harry was standing, smiled broadly and said, "Hi Harry. I'm so glad that it works, although I'd love to see your face and hug you."

"He told us to tell you 'dito'," Sirius replied after a moment, grinning broadly.

"Well, let's head to Gringotts to remedy the matter," Remus suggested, and Hermione eagerly agreed.

"Well, now that it's all right for Harry and me to go out, what do you think of a short visit to Diagon Alley afterwards? I'd love one of Fortescue's ice creams," Sirius suggested, pleasantly.

 **Harry**

"Harry, remember to hold on to your ice-cream the whole time," Remus advised him, when they were sitting at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, "otherwise, people would see your ice-cream, wondering who was sitting on your chair invisibly."

"Oh, all right," Harry acknowledged, sighing, as he took the ice-cream from the table, closely holding it in his hand. "Still, it's great that we're able to go out into Diagon Alley like this. I never really had time to do what I wanted before," he added, feeling extremely happy to have a real family for the first time since he could remember.

 _'I still can't believe that I'll never have to return to the Dursleys'_ ,' he thought in absolute delight.

Apparently, everyone else was equally happy to be free and able to do what they wanted, and they slowly enjoyed their ice-creams, when Hermione suddenly let out a small gasp.

"Oh Merlin, the Weasleys," she whispered, pointing to a spot behind Harry in the alley.

"You don't know where I am," Harry quickly whispered back. "The three of you are together to look for me."

"Hermione!" Harry heard Ron shout a mere instant later. "Sirius and Professor Lupin."

"I'm not your professor anymore. You may just call me Remus," the older wizard said, gently.

"Sirius and Remus and Hermione," Mrs. Weasley greeted them, eagerly stepping over the table to pull Sirius into a bear's hug. "You should come and visit us at the Burrow. You really look as if you were in need of some good food."

"Right, Mione, why don't you come and spend the summer with us?" Ron asked.

"First of all…"

"… you should tell us…"

"… where we can find Harry," the twins jumped into the conversation, making Harry smile.

 _'Leave it to the twins of all the Weasleys to ask for me,'_ he thought, making a mental note to let the twins in on his secret at the next opportunity.

"We don't know where Harry is," Hermione lied. "That's why I'm together with Sirius and Remus to look for him."

"Oh right," the twins replied, simultaneously.

"Please let us know…"

"… if there's anything…"

"… that we can do to help."

"I will," Hermione replied, smiling at the twins.

"Remus, Sirius, please take the twins to Buckbean, but only the twins," Harry whispered, in spite of knowing that he could as well speak aloud.

"Are you really willing to help?" Sirius enquired in a strict voice, causing the twins to nod.

"Of course," they promised, grinning broadly.

"I could help as well," Ron spoke up, after receiving a small kick from Ginny.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, but two are more than enough," Sirius replied, turning to Mrs. Weasley. "Mrs. Weasley, would it be all right for you if we employed these two young men for a holiday assignment? They will of course be properly paid for their efforts."

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley agreed in apparent surprise.

Harry could not help chuckling upon seeing Ron's face heat up with apparent jealousy at the prospect of the twins gaining a job for the holidays.

' _Well, they willingly offered their help, Ron_ ,' Harry thought, the twins' friendship overriding his sad feeling at his so-called best friend's behaviour.

"Then your first job will be to accompany me to Gringotts," Remus spoke up. "Why don't we meet here again in half an hour? Would that be convenient for you?"

"Yes," the twins beamed, and Mrs. Weasley agreed, quickly leading her children away to run some errands in the meantime.

HP

While Remus took the twins to Buckbean, Harry, Hermione and Sirius made a short trip to Flourish and Blotts, before they waited for the others in front of Gringotts.

"Harry!" the twins blurted out upon seeing them standing in front of the bank.

"Shhh," Hermione hissed at them, "even if people can't see him, they'll know that he's here if you shout for him that way."

"Oh right…"

"… sorry."

"It's okay, but we really must be careful," Harry said in a small voice, handing the twins a small parchment with the address of Potter Manor.

"Are you already able to apparate?" Sirius enquired and, seeing the twins shake their heads, held out his hands. "Come with me then. Remus will take Hermione and Harry."

 **Hermione**

An instant later, the group of six found themselves in the kitchen of Potter Manor, introducing the twins to Gina as their new guests, who would visit frequently, at least during the holidays.

Turning to Sirius, Hermione asked, "Harry told me that you were working on a research project and needed my help. Please tell me what a muggleborn witch, who has just only finished her third Hogwarts year, would be able to assist with?"

Sirius smirked. "Well, whenever I was at Hogwarts during the last couple of months…" Seeing Hermione and Harry glare at him, he continued, "in my dog form of course, I heard that Hermione was the brightest witch of her age. Even Dumbledore said so."

"Well, I just like to study," Hermione replied, warily. "Still…"

"Is it right to assume…"

"… that you need us for the same project?" the twins asked, eagerly looking from Sirius to Remus.

"Sirius wants to try to find a charm for time travel, so that we can go back thirteen years into the past and save my parents," Harry quickly explained, causing Hermione and the twins to stare at him in apparent shock.

"That's a joke, isn't it?" she asked.

"No, it's not," Remus assured her, "and we already have one clue. Buckbean advised us to study the charms of the Knight Bus."

"The Knight Bus?" Hermione groaned, incredulously. "What's that if such a thing even exists? Can't you just, for once, be serious?"

The five wizards exchanged a look of pure amusement.

"Ah Hermione…"

"… but it does exist…"

"… and if you ever use it to travel…"

"… believe us…"

"… you'll never forget the experience," the twins informed her, grinning.

"What could be researched about it…"

"… we don't have a clue though," they added, giving Remus a questioning look.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind reviews since yesterday. As per your requests, I will at least include Luna and Draco in this story. Maybe Neville will also fit at some stage, but I am not sure yet. See you again next weekend._


	5. Chapter 5

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 _ **AN:** Thank you all so much for your kind reviews that encouraged my muse to continue with this story. Please keep in mind that it is completely AU! Enjoy..._

* * *

 **Fred and George**

"What exactly is the job that Sirius gave you?" Mrs. Weasley asked with interest, once her family was complete, surrounding the dinner table.

"Apart from looking for Harry…"

"… they need to do some research…"

"… involving the Knight Bus," the twins replied.

"Dad…"

"… do you perhaps know where we can find information…"

"… concerning the Knight Bus?"

"Is that a joke?" Ron asked, moodily. "You just need to look for information about the Knight Bus and get paid for it?"

"Yes…"

"… and we get to live…"

"… together with Sirius, Remus and Hermione…"

"… during the holidays," the twins replied, joyfully.

"Mum, Dad…"

"… is it okay if we stay with them…"

"… for a few weeks?"

"Where exactly are they living?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sternly.

The twins shook their heads.

"Sorry Mum…"

"… but we can't tell you that."

"Ahh, the Fidelius charm?" Mr. Weasley enquired in apparent understanding.

The twins breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes."

"All right then, but I want you to floo call or write on a daily basis," their mother demanded.

"We'll write, but we might just send a house-elf here instead of sending it by owl," Fred said, pensively.

"If you write back, you can just hand it to the elf then," George added, before the twins ran off to pack a bag.

Ten minutes later, the twins stepped into the fireplace together, flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, so that no one would be any wiser about their real destiny.

 **Albus Dumbledore**

Albus was just half-heartedly enjoying a game of Wizard's chess with Minerva, while his thoughts were rather occupied with the question of how to find Harry Potter, when the fireplace flared, and Molly Weasley's head appeared in the flames.

"Come through," he allowed, hoping that the mother of Harry Potter's best friend and his trusted ally would have some positive news for him.

"Albus, Minerva," Molly greeted them, readily taking the offered seat. "Hermione is spending the holidays together with Sirius and Remus, and they've invited the twins to stay with them and do some research about the Knight Bus as well as try to find Harry," she eagerly informed them.

"The Knight Bus?" Albus enquired, giving the two witches a questioning look. "What about it?" he wondered aloud.

"The Knight Bus seems to me like just a normal muggle bus, apart from the fact that it can jump," Molly continued, questioningly.

"That's what I believed so far as well," Albus agreed, thoughtfully, wondering what part of it could be a possible topic for research.

"What does the Knight Bus have to do with Harry in any case?" Minerva spoke up. "Oh well, Hermione and the twins are all quite intelligent, and if any of my students were able to help Sirius and Remus finding Harry, I suppose it would be them," she added in a firm voice.

"Well, Ronald is his best friend," Molly stated, seeming a little put out by the fact that her youngest son was not included in the search.

"Ronald suffers too much from his own jealousy," Minerva replied, letting out a long sigh. "If Albus hasn't been able to locate Harry by now, it won't be easy for anyone."

"That's true. Do you really don't have a clue, where the boy might be?" Molly queried, giving Albus a sharp look.

"I don't," Albus replied, suddenly feeling all the one hundred and fifty years of his age. "I've tried everything that came into my mind to no avail. Not even Fawkes is able to reach him, let alone owls. Even letters addressed to Sirius come back unopened, and the tracking spells didn't work. It's important that we find him soon though. If you manage to find something out through the twins, please contact me immediately."

"Of course, I will," Molly promised, before she excused herself and stepped back into the fireplace.

"You're right," Albus said to his best friend. "Even if the twins are the greatest mischief-makers after the Marauders, they have their heart in the right place and will make great friends for Harry."

 **Minerva McGonagall**

 _'The twins surely will, but I wonder if Albus really wants what's best for Harry,_ ' she thought, as she returned to her own quarters. _'I'll speak with Hermione about Harry once school commences again in September,_ ' she resolved. _'If he doesn't want to be found, maybe Albus won't be able to do anything about it, and if owls aren't able to find Sirius and Hermione is staying with him, I won't be able to reach her either. So, there's nothing that I could do right now,_ ' she thought, feeling sad at the prospect of not being able to help her little lions.

When she pondered the matter again later over a cup of tea, she thought, _'Maybe they're even together. Why would Harry not be together with Sirius, considering that they probably left Hogwarts together? That would explain Hermione's presence as well. Molly not knowing anything about it doesn't necessarily mean anything. If I wanted something to be kept a secret from Albus, I surely wouldn't tell Molly about it.'_ With that conclusion in mind, she felt considerably better.

 **Hermione**

During the following weeks, Harry and the twins combed the library of Potter Manor for books containing any information about the Knight Bus, while Hermione, Sirius and Remus travelled to the magical section of the British Library. Unfortunately, they did not have any more success, and Hermione slowly grew frustrated.

' _Wouldn't it be better to study the time turner trying to make it go back months instead of mere hours instead of spending weeks of unfruitful research on such a random topic?_ ' she wondered. However, when she voiced her thought, Sirius informed her that he still wanted to check out the magical library of Trinity College in Dublin as well as the Hogwarts library.

"Oh, may I come?" Hermione asked in excitement. "I've heard about the library of Trinity College. It's said to be magnificent."

"We'd like to come as well…"

"… and have a look at the magical shopping area…"

"Perhaps they have a joke shop…"

"… that we could visit," the twins spoke up, eagerly.

"We will go all together," Sirius decided. "We'll ask the elves to take us there and back. As to the magical shopping centre, we won't have time for that, but there's one in Limerick, which is in walking distance from here. We can go and visit that at any time."

Unfortunately, their visit to Trinity College was not efficient either, and Hermione slowly became upset at what seemed to be everyone's eagerness to search for information about the Knight Bus. However, the general opinion remained that there had to be something about it, because Buckbean had mentioned it to Remus and Harry.

 _'He's a goblin; perhaps he was just ridiculing them,'_ she thought in irritation, however, knew better than to contradict everyone.

 **Harry Potter**

Harry was thoroughly enjoying his holidays together with what felt like his own family that he did not notice how fast the time passed. One morning, when he entered the kitchen, he was completely taken with surprise as everyone shouted, "Happy Birthday, Harry."

 _'Oh Merlin, the last two summers were so long, and now it's already my birthday,'_ he thought in disbelief, suddenly feeling very self-conscious upon noticing the decorations.

A large birthday cake in form of a Snitch was sitting in the centre of the table, surrounded by small piles of presents wrapped in colourful paper.

After breakfast, the twins urged him to open his presents, and Harry complied. ' _This is my first real birthday_ ,' he thought, feeling very happy.

From the twins, he received an assortment of self-made prank objects and from Hermione a book with the title ' _The Secrets of Ireland's Magical World'_. Remus gave him another book about ' _Magical Animals and their Specialities_ '.

However, what appeared the most interesting to him was his gift from Sirius. It was a golden cauldron, which was to the brim filled with small, golden clovers.

"Thanks Sirius, but what's that?" Harry blurted out in confusion.

Sirius grinned. "In Fairy Alley, which is what the Limerick equivalent to Diagon Alley is called, you don't pay with Galleons, but with Clovers," he explained. "At the Clover Cauldron Pot, which is the equivalent to Gringotts, you can exchange Galleons with Clovers."

"Wow, cool," Harry replied, absentmindedly, as he studied the Clovers. "How much are they?" he then enquired, realising that there was neither a number nor any other indication written on the Clovers.

"One clover is one Clover," Sirius informed him. "For one Galleon, you get 12 Clovers, and the Clovers in this Clover Cauldron are worth one thousand Galleons."

"So much?" Harry asked, incredulously, staring at his godfather in disbelief.

"Oh well, we thought that you'd need quite a bit of money if we were to go to Fairy Alley together and none of us has any Clovers," Sirius admitted, smirking.

"Oh, all right, can we go today?" Harry suggested, eagerly looking at the twins, who were bobbing their heads up and down in apparent agreement.

"Of course, let's go," Sirius agreed, and everyone hurriedly readied themselves. "No Harry, you must leave them in the Clover Cauldron," he quickly admonished Harry, who was just about to distribute the Clovers to his friends. "Otherwise, they aren't worth anything. You must take the Clover Cauldron with you."

 _'How strange,'_ Harry thought, feeling extremely uncomfortable at the idea of walking through the streets carrying a golden goblet full of money.

"Don't worry, Harry, no one will be able to see you anyway," Hermione said in a soothing voice, causing Harry to quickly relax.

 **Hermione**

The entrance to Fairy Alley was situated in the garden of King John's Castle. There was a large bush, and when they stepped around it, they could see a hole, which Sirius explained was the entrance to Fairy Alley. To Hermione's surprise, it was just open. They did not even need their wands to enter it.

"Muggles can't see the door in the bush," Remus explained, apparently noticing her questioning look.

As soon as they had entered the alley, they saw at the first glance that it was completely different from Diagon Alley. It was not only that the alley was not straight but seemed to be built around a huge, round garden with small, green clovers, but also that the people walking through the alley were not mostly humans like in Diagon Alley. While in the London shopping centre, you could only see the occasional goblin or house-elf, the shopping crowd in Fairy Alley consisted of humans, goblins, elves, leprechauns, fairies and all kinds of magical beings that Hermione could imagine. They hurried through the alley carrying Clover Cauldrons like Harry's.

She also noticed that the clover garden was humming with magic; however, it was sending out a good feeling, nothing like the kind of bad magic that emerged from places like Nockturn Alley.

"This is just amazing," she breathed, as she looked around with interest.

"Look over there, that's Malfoy," Harry suddenly hissed, pointing to a spot ahead of them. "I wonder what he's doing here."

"That's true," Hermione replied, feeling extremely surprised to see Draco Malfoy all by himself casually walking along Fairy Alley.

"Let's follow him…"

"… and see what he's up to," the twins suggested, and everyone agreed.

They hurried behind the blonde boy, who strode ahead in a fast pace without looking left or right, just if he knew the place well enough to even bother looking at his surroundings.

All of a sudden, Draco turned left and entered a shop, although Hermione was not sure, which door it was that her classmate had stepped through.

"It was either here…"

"… or here," Fred and George whispered, when they passed the spot, on which Draco had vanished.

Hermione stared at the shops. The left one was an apothecary, while the right one was named _'Veela Learning Centre_ '. There was a sign at the door, however, which said, ' _closed_ '.

"Well, probably the apothecary then," Hermione stated, matter-of-factly, causing the others to nod in agreement.

"Look, there's a Quidditch shop just over there. Why don't we go there and wait for him to come out again?" Harry suggested, and they slowly made their way over to the other shop.

While the boys became extremely excited at the display of the newest broomstick in the shop, Hermione feigned studying something in the show window, all the time observing the door of the apothecary.

She almost jumped in shock, when Draco all of a sudden appeared in the doorframe. However, it was not the one of the apothecary, but the door of the Veela Learning Centre. As he set about to step out onto the street, she watched in disbelief how a beautiful woman appeared behind him, laid her arms around him and kissed him.

' _What the…_ ' she thought, but before she was even able to follow the idea in her mind, she saw how Draco gently kissed the woman back before turning around heading out onto the street.

The woman, who had very beautiful blonde hair, closed the door, turning the sign to ' _open_ ' as she retreated to where Hermione could not see her anymore.

 _'What was that?'_ she wondered in bewilderment.

She was brought back to reality, when the boys showed up, each of them except for Harry carrying one of the new broomsticks, which they seemed to have just bought.

' _They'll never grow up_ ,' she thought in resignation, ' _considering that we only came into the shop to spy on Malfoy_.'

"Did anything happen?" Sirius asked, casually, once they were back on the street.

"Yes," Hermione replied, feeling slightly grumpy at the others, as she quickly informed them what they had missed.

"She surely was a Veela," Sirius said, looking at the shop in question. "They're beautiful and moreover almost impossible to resist."

"How does Malfoy know about them then?" Harry spoke up. "And that shop doesn't even seem to be…"

"No, it's not," Sirius answered his unfinished question. "Maybe she's just a friend of the family. His father surely does know a lot of people."

 **Draco**

Once he had left the shop, he took a deep breath and returned in the direction, where he had come from. Walking right into the clover garden, he sat in the grass, letting his eyes wander over the garden, where fairies, leprechauns, imps and several other kinds of small, magical animals were playing, talking and resting.

"Hey Dragon, are you back already?" one of the leprechauns suddenly addressed him.

"Bea, is that you?" Draco enquired, causing the leprechaun to nod.

"Yes, and Lea is here." The leprechaun pointed to a fairy, who was hovering nearby. "Did you go to see her?"

"Yes, I did," Draco replied, sighing. "She's very beautiful, but I still can't believe it. I always knew that Father's evil, but he's even worse than I ever imagined."

With that, the tears begun to run freely down his face, and he unconsciously allowed Bea und Lea to hug and kiss him until he felt considerably better.

 _tbc..._

 _In the next chapter, school will commence again. If you have any questions, please tell me. Just remember that this is completely AU._


	6. Chapter 6

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 _ **A.N.:** From the numbers of reads as well as the reviews, I can see that not everyone has read chapter 5 yet, which I posted 24 hours ago. I still want to give you chapter 6 now, before I probably won't be able to post during the week. Please go back and read chapter 5 first if you have not read it yet. Almost everything occurring in this story is not by chance but part of the plot. Thank you for reading and also for your kind reviews, which always help me continue writing. Enjoy..._

* * *

 **Harry**

By the time Harry, Sirius, Remus, the twins and Hermione left the Quidditch shop, they had lost Draco Malfoy, and while they spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying themselves in Fairy Alley, Harry could not help wondering about the relationship between Draco and the Veela.

During the remaining four weeks of the summer holidays, the small group returned to Fairy Alley a couple of times. It was not as if they did much shopping, apart from the first trip, when Harry had bought new brooms for all of them, but they liked the atmosphere, which was so completely different from Diagon Alley.

 _'I really like it here,'_ Harry thought, when he once again walked back home together with his friends, carrying his Clover Cauldron. _'The magic is so very different from that in Diagon Alley or of course Knockturn Alley. It somehow feels lighter here. Perhaps because of the many elves and fairies walking around Fairy Alley.'_

HP

Too soon for his liking, Hermione and the twins had to leave, as their parents wanted to have them home for the last week of the holidays.

"Harry, I think you should write to Professor McGonagall and tell her that you won't return to Hogwarts for our fourth year," Hermione instructed him, before she placed a kiss on his cheek and looked at Dobby in apparent expectation.

"Won't she know that by now, anyway?" Harry asked in annoyance.

"Maybe so, but she's still going to worry about you," Hermione insisted, right before Dobby popped her away.

"I believe that it would be the kind thing to do," Remus agreed, pensively.

"All right," Harry replied, sighing. _'Well, it can't hurt, and she won't be able to find out where I am anyway if I ask Dobby to hand over the letter. He doesn't have to meet her. He could just place it on the desk in her office,'_ he told himself and set to scribble a short notice to his former head of house.

 **Minerva McGonagall**

"Just one week before our peace and quiet ends," Severus voiced, wearing an expression of pure annoyance.

Albus slowly brought his hands up to his face, taking his glasses off before letting out a deep sigh. "I just hope we'll be able to keep Harry safe, considering that he didn't return to the Dursleys' to refresh the blood wards," he uttered, pensively. "I'm afraid that it won't be safe for him with the Triwizard Tournament taking place at Hogwarts."

"Albus, are you certain that Potter is going to come back at all?" Severus spoke up, looking from the old wizard to Minerva, questioningly.

Minerva lightly shook her head, letting him know that she did not have any information. "If anyone will be able to keep him safe, it's you, Albus," she voiced, gently.

The old wizard slowly shook his head, giving her a devastated look. "I failed him, Minerva. I really did."

 _'Well, we all failed him,'_ Minerva thought, when she felt a slight movement on her right side. It was more like a small breeze than anything else. However, when she looked over, there was no one. Just a small parchment was lying on the small table next to her seat, of which she was certain that it had not been there earlier.

 _'Professor McGonagall'_ was written on the parchment in what seemed to be a student's scrawl, which she, however, did not recognize at the first glance.

"Where does that come from?" she muttered and slowly unfolded it, aware that the two wizards were observing her every move.

 _'Dear Professor McGonagall,  
I just want to make sure that you know that I will not return to Hogwarts for my fourth year. Please do not worry about me. Everything is fine, and I am very happy.  
Best regards  
Harry Potter'_

"Albus, please keep your magic in grip," Severus warned the older wizard, after Minerva read the letter to them, making her recall the rumours about what had happened in the headmaster's office several weeks before.

"He must attend Hogwarts," Albus replied in a strangely calm voice, before he dismissed his colleagues.

 _'I hope Albus will be all right,'_ Minerva thought in concern, as she headed back to her own quarters. _'I wonder why he's so obsessed with Harry.'_

 **Hermione**

 _'Thank Merlin Harry isn't here,_ ' Hermione thought, after the headmaster announced that the Triwizard tournament was going to take place at Hogwarts. ' _They'd surely somehow make him participate. If there's anything possibly dangerous going on here, he's always in the middle of it_.'

From the following day onwards, Hermione spent every free minute skimming the library for information about the Knight Bus as well as time turners. To her relief, not only the professors but also the ministry seemed to have completely forgotten that she was still in the possession of the time turner, and she was not inclined to return it if she was not forced to do so.

 _'Maybe we'll still able to use it for our time travel,'_ she thought, carefully hiding the time turner in a pair of socks at the bottom of her suitcase.

One day, she met the twins in the library. "Have you found anything so far?" she enquired in a small voice, not wanting anyone else to know what they were looking for.

"No…"

"… but right now…"

"… we've got to look…"

"… for something else," the twins replied, smirking at each other.

"Or do you perhaps..."

"… know an aging spell?"

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me you want to participate in that tournament," she hissed. "People have died in there." Not even willing to listen to the twins' certainly more than annoying response, she headed away to skim the second shelf of the Charms section.

 _'How annoying,_ ' Hermione thought, once she was back in Gryffindor on time for curfew. _'Everyone is going on about that stupid tournament. I don't understand what's so interesting watching people do dangerous things struggling for their lives. Our research is at least far more interesting, even if it's slowly becoming frustrating. If the twins don't cooperate, it's going to take me until Christmas to check every book in the library._ '

A few weeks later, however, something happened, that made the Triwizard tournament the most important matter on her mind.

 **Harry**

"It's always the same dream," Harry explained, once he had shown Sirius and Remus the reoccurring dream in his grandfather's Pensive.

"That was Barty Crouch Junior," Sirius said, pensively. "I thought he was dead though. Didn't he die at Azkaban?"

"Yes," Remus confirmed. "Something's very strange here."

"All the more reason to get James and Lily here to help us fight the war against the Death Eaters," Sirius replied, sighing.

"Sirius, believe it or not, they were really quiet during the last twelve years. The Dark Mark at the Quidditch world cup was the first that has been seen of them since the Potters died," Remus insisted.

"Well, apart from Voldemort," Harry spoke up. "I've met him at school during my first year and then again in second year."

"I'm really worried what's going to happen," Remus added. "Concerning the time travel, I'm afraid that there's nothing that we can do for now except for waiting from news from Hogwarts. I just hope that Hermione will be able to find out enough for us to proceed. So, in the meantime, I suggest that you study for your OWLs and take them as soon as possible, perhaps even next summer."

"All right," Harry agreed, thinking, _'At least I don't have to suffer under Professor Snape anymore. Remus and Sirius are much better teachers.'_

 **Albus Dumbledore**

Albus observed calmly how the Goblet of Fire spat out the three names of the participants of the Triwizard Tournament. _'Cedric Diggory_.' He nodded, contentedly. He had not expected anyone else to become Hogwarts' champion.

All of a sudden, however, the Goblet spat out another parchment. With a combination of surprise and shock, Albus went to retrieve the parchment, his eyes widening in horror upon reading Harry Potter's name on it.

"Harry Potter," he called out, fully aware that he was not going to receive a reply from the absent young wizard.

"Severus," he called his most trusted ally over to accompany him to the antechamber, where the champions and their headmasters were waiting for him.

"I'm sorry, but something is wrong, and we must find out what it is, before we'll be able to continue with the tournament," he said in a crisp voice, causing the champions and the other headmasters to stare at him in clear shock, before everyone began shouting at him in apparent anger.

"The goblet called a fourth person's name; however, the person is not a member of this school nor of any other," Albus explained.

"Then the person must still compete," Moody spoke up in a firm voice. "After all, it's a magically binding contract."

"Alastor, this is ridiculous," Albus contradicted. "There's no way Harry could have added his name to the Goblet. Neither would he have been able to enter Hogwarts, nor is he of age. I'm sure that this is some kind of plot to get to him or possibly even kill him."

"Well, I'm going to contact him and see what he has to say about the matter," Ludo Bagman spoke up, seeming ridiculously confident.

"Very well," Albus agreed. The meeting was adjourned, and he returned to his rooms, feeling extremely amused at the prospect of having the ministry trying to contact Harry in vain. _'That's probably Voldemort's doing,'_ he thought in concern. _'I just wonder how he managed that. At least it must be someone who doesn't know the situation at Hogwarts well, or they'd known that Harry isn't a student here any longer,'_ he thought, relieved that at least he could still trust his own staff.

 **Severus Snape**

 _'I wonder what's going on,'_ Severus thought in surprise. _'It surely is the Dark Lord's doing, but there's no one here, whom I'd identify as Death Eater. Oh well, apart from Karkaroff that is, but I don't really believe that he'd do such a thing. There's still a possibility though._ ' He returned to his quarters, deep in thought, wondering if he should confront the other dark wizard or if it would be best to keep quiet for the time being.

At breakfast the following morning, Albus asked the students about the matter. As expected, he neither received a response to his question if anyone knew about Harry Potter's whereabouts, nor to the question if anyone knew how Potter's name had come into the Goblet of Fire.

He almost groaned in annoyance, when the headmaster complimented him and Minerva into his office after breakfast, explaining that they were going to have a discussion about the matter with the Minister of Magic.

"Cornelius, I don't believe that a magically binding contract can come into life if one of the partners doesn't even know about it," Albus spoke up, once they had greeted the pompous git of a minister.

"Then you best tell Potter about it soon," the minister had the gall to reply.

"That is not possible, because no one knows where he's hiding. He's residing somewhere under the Fidelius Charm," Minerva spoke up in a grave voice laced with concern for her golden boy.

"Well, that's his own fault. I don't care. With the names being picked by the Goblet of Fire, Potter's bound to participate," the minister insisted. "He's surely getting the information from the Daily Prophet as we speak."

Apparently realising that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the pompous git, Albus finished the conversation, stating that he was going to discuss the matter with the headmasters of the other two schools involved.

 **Minerva McGonagall**

"Ms. Granger, thank you for joining me," Minerva greeted the girl, smiling, as she allowed the young witch into her office. Not sure how to begin the conversation, she said, "Please hear me out first. I really wish to help Harry, maybe in contrary to what many others want. I also promise that our conversation will remain secret. Whatever we discuss here will not make its way into the headmaster's ears."

"All right," Hermione replied, giving her a look that Minerva could only interpret as confusion.

"I believe that you know exactly where Harry is, that you, in fact, spent the whole summer together, and that you know how to contact him," Minerva said, frankly, before asking, "Am I wrong?"

Staring at the professor in apparent shock, Hermione replied, "No, Professor."

Minerva nodded in understanding. "Very well. Please contact Harry and tell him about the matter with the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Tournament. And please insist that he is under no circumstances to accept the championship." She quickly told her student about the teachers' earlier conversation with the Minister of Magic and added, "Tell him to fight the matter together with Sirius, stating that he was not a student of Hogwarts or of any other magical school at the moment. Please contact him before Fudge gets any of his more stupid ideas ensuring that Harry will have to participate."

"I'll write to him immediately," Hermione promised. "Who in the world put his name into the Goblet?"

Minerva shook her head. "We don't know that, dear, but whoever did it, certainly has no good intentions towards Harry."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "All right then, if that's all, I'll go and inform him right away."

"Thank you, Ms. Granger," Minerva replied, gratefully.

 **Harry**

Harry observed with trepidation and amusement how Remus dictated his godfather a letter, and Sirius eagerly scribbled the text, trying hard to keep up with Remus' speed.

 _'Dear Minister Fudge,  
I am writing to you in my function as Harry James Potter's godfather and magical guardian. Harry James Potter is not going to participate in the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts for the following reasons.  
a) He is not a Hogwarts student or a student of any other school anymore  
b) He did not put his name into the Goblet of Fire or asked anyone to do it for him  
c) The name that came out of the Goblet was Harry Potter; however, my godson's name is Harry James Potter, and we assume that a different Harry Potter must be meant in this case.  
Best regards  
Sirius Black'_

"Remus, do you really think that's enough?" Sirius asked, pensively.

"Maybe we should go and ask Buckbean for advice," Remus replied, apparently not feeling overly confident about the matter. "Harry, don't forget to write to Professor McGonagall and thank her for her advice."

"I will. I think I know who must have put my name into the Goblet by the way," Harry slowly spoke up, wondering if he should tell his godfathers what he knew.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind feedback for this story. My muse really appreciates it very much! See you next weekend..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

"It's the man whom you recognised the other day, the one who's supposed to be dead," Harry explained.

"Barty Crouch Junior?" Sirius interrupted him.

"Yes, him. I heard how they sent him to Hogwarts in one or two of the dreams, and then he disappeared from the dreams. So, I suppose that it's his doing."

"Probably yes," Sirius agreed.

"The question is whom he's incorporating," Remus spoke up. "He can't be at Hogwarts as himself, because the whole magical world knows that he's dead or at least supposed to be dead."

"Maybe I should take up Amelia's offer to return to the Aurors," Sirius said, thoughtfully, apparently more to himself than to him and Remus. "As an Auror, I could simply investigate at Hogwarts and look for Crouch Junior."

"Why don't you go and speak with Amelia?" Remus suggested, wearing a strange grin that made Harry look at him, questioningly.

"I'll do that."

Harry was surprised that Sirius made up his mind so quickly. The older wizard readied himself for a trip to the Ministry of Magic. "I'm going to take the letter with me. Amelia will be well able to advise me what to do about it," he said, before he headed outside to apparate away.

"That was strange," Harry blurted out, looking at Remus.

"There's a history behind it," Remus informed him and told him that Amelia and Sirius had been dating, when Sirius had been carried off to Azkaban. "Ever since he was free again, I expected him to go and see her, but he didn't. Until now."

"Oh wow," Harry replied. "Is Madam Bones still unmarried?" he enquired, curiously.

"Yes, she is," Remus assured him, grinning. "And I know for a fact that Sirius is still very fond of her to say the least."

 **Hermione**

Trusting her letter into Dobby's hands, Hermione relaxed, knowing that Harry would receive it within the minute.

"You're employing a house-elf?"

A soft, female voice suddenly interrupted her musings, causing her to turn around in surprise.

"Excuse me," she stammered at the blonde girl standing behind her, "have we met before?"

To her annoyance, the girl began to chuckle. "Maybe not, but your approach at freeing the elves is famous all over Hogwarts," she said in a soft voice, before she introduced herself. "I'm Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw third year. My father is the editor of the Quibbler."

"Oh, all right, I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione replied, instantly feeling that she liked the girl, although she appeared to be a little strange, considering that she was wearing a dreamy look.

"Are you researching anything special?" the girl enquired, only to add, "I've seen you sitting here from early morning until curfew every day."

Hermione let out a deep sigh. In fact, she had not told anyone what she was looking for; however, something in the girl's attitude made her tell her. "I'm looking for information about the Knight Bus," she admitted in a small voice.

The girl nodded in apparent understanding. "You need to check out the travelling imps then," she replied, gently. "My father and I have done a lot of research about magical animals. Currently, we're concentrating on the Crumple-Horned Snorkack though. If you see one, please contact me right away."

 _'Whatever that might be,'_ Hermione thought, having the impression as if the girl was really strange. "I will," she assured the Ravenclaw. To her relief, Luna excused herself and took a seat at a table on the other side of the large room.

Nevertheless, she sought out the twins before lunch and asked, "Have you ever heard of travelling imps? Luna Lovegood told me about them, when I asked for information about the Knight Bus."

The twins simultaneously rolled their eyes in feigned annoyance before answering.

"Luna Lovegood is odd…"

"… She's our closest neighbour…"

"… so, we know here quite well…"

"… and she and her father…"

"… who's the editor of the Quibbler…"

"… are extremely strange…"

"… talking about magical animals…"

"… existing ones and not existing ones…"

"… all the time," they finished their tirade together.

"So, you don't think that it's a hint which we should follow?" Hermione enquired, looking at the twins with lowered expectation.

"No," they replied, unison.

 **Sirius**

With mixed feelings, Sirius entered the Ministry of Magic, his former employer, and asked for an audience with Amelia Bones, current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He was lucky, and Amelia did, indeed, agree to meet him after just a few minutes of wait.

"Sirius," she greeted him, offering him a seat. "How nice of you to come to see me."

"Amelia," Sirius replied, sighing. "I'm sorry, Meli, this is really difficult."

"What's difficult?" Amelia enquired with feigned innocence.

"Did you really believe that I did such things?" Sirius asked, instantly berating himself, because it came out harsher than intended.

"I never believed it," Amelia replied in a soft voice. "But there was nothing that I could do about it. If, at that time, I had been in my current position, please believe me that everything would have turned out differently. I didn't even know that you had no trial. It only came out the other day, when Fudge told me about it."

"Of course I didn't. Otherwise, they'd have known that I was innocent," Sirius informed her.

"I was waiting for you to come and see me," Amelia breathed. "It's more than three months since your name has been cleared."

"I'm sorry," Sirius apologized. "I didn't know what your feelings were. I thought that maybe you'd have moved on in the meantime. I mean, thirteen years have passed…"

"I haven't," Amelia told him, obviously fighting the tears that began to well in her eyes. "You can't believe how relived I was hearing about your innocence officially recognized. I've been waiting for you to come back to me."

"All this time?" Sirius asked, incredulously.

"All this time," Amelia replied, smiling.

"I still love you," Sirius admitted, hesitantly. "I've got certain responsibilities now though."

"Your godson?" Amelia enquired.

"That as well," Sirius confirmed.

"Does it matter?" Amelia asked, consciously or unconsciously playing with the ring, which Sirius had once given her as an engagement ring and which she was still wearing on her left hand.

"Everyone is looking for him," Sirius replied, "first of all Albus Dumbledore and last but not least the Minister of Magic. Last I heard you were the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Mr. Potter hasn't done anything that would warrant any action from me," Amelia informed him in a soft voice. "For me, the boy is just your godchild as well as Susan's former classmate, and she's always spoken highly of him. Neither Harry nor Susan should be a problem for our relationship."

"What about living together with Remus Lupin, a known werewolf?" Sirius enquired, just to be sure, although he knew Amelia well enough to be certain of her response.

"I'm sure you're staying in a place that offers the appropriate facilities," she replied, calmly. "I know that you wouldn't do anything to endanger your godson."

"True," Sirius replied, grinning. Slowly taking two steps forward, he carefully engulfed her lips by his own, pulling her into a gentle but deep kiss.

 **Draco**

"I can't believe that they want us to remain at Hogwarts during the whole winter holidays," Draco roared, once the boys were back in the Slytherin common room.

"Draco, come with me," Blaise said in a soothing voice, pulling his best friend with him into the bedroom, which the two young wizards shared. "Draco, what's wrong?" he asked, once they were sitting on the edges of their beds facing each other.

"Nothing," Draco replied, immediately feeling sorry for the grumpiness of his response. "Sorry Blaise, it's nothing to do with you," he added, right away.

"What's wrong then?" Blaise insisted. "Ever since we've come back after the summer holidays, you've been acting strangely."

 _'Ah, will he ever give up?'_ Draco thought in annoyance only to realise that his best friend would not stop bothering him until he told him the truth.

"I just don't want to remain here over Christmas," he said, sighing.

"And why not?" Blaise enquired, curiously. "You always told me how you hated the Christmas Balls that your parents organised at Malfoy Manor. Aren't you happy that you can easily get away from it this year?"

"Yeah, well, that is that, but…" Draco slowly trailed off, but finally decided that he just had to tell his friend. "During the summer, I found out that my mother isn't really my mother," he began to explain.

"What?" Blaise interrupted him in clear disbelief.

"My father had a thing with a Veela, and when he found out that she was pregnant with a boy, they transferred me, while still unborn, into my mother. Don't ask me how that's possible, but apparently, it was some procedure at St. Mungo's, and it worked. I only found out when I followed Father to Fairy Alley once this summer. He didn't know that I was following him and went to do some errand, while I happened to talk to some leprechauns and fairies. They instructed me to go and talk to Ms. Elfline. One day I did, and she told me everything. She's three-quarters Veela and one quarter fairy, so I'm only half human, three eighth Veela and one eighth fairy."

"Wow," Blaise, who had been quietly followed him so far, blurted out. "Well, that actually explains your gorgeous looks."

Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Well, I'd rather say it explains why I can talk to fairies, leprechauns and such. My parents don't know that I discovered this though, so please keep it to yourself for the time being."

"I will," his friend promised, sincerely.

"Anyway, if I was at home during the holidays, I could easily go to visit her whenever I wanted. She's really nice you know. During the last four weeks of the summer holidays, I went to see her every day."

 **Harry**

When Sirius arrived back at the manor, Harry noticed immediately that he was in a good mood.

"Harry," his godfather addressed him right away, "can you please write our address for Amelia Bones? I'd like her to visit tonight for dinner."

Unable to wipe a huge grin from his face, Remus spoke up. "Don't forget to take her to Buckbean, so that she'll be able to see Harry."

Sirius grinned back, broadly. "Can you believe that I've already done that?" he replied before turning back to Harry. "Sorry that I didn't ask you before going to see Buckbean, but Amelia is my fiancée, and I can't wait for the two of you to meet each other."

"That's fine with me," Harry reassured his godfather, knowing that Sirius, as impulsive as he was, would never take any chance of endangering him. Scribbling the address on a small piece of parchment, he smirked. "I'm going to go and give it to her personally," he informed the others, who stared at him in clear disbelief.

"What?" Harry asked, impatiently. "You know that the Floo in the ministry is safe, you said so yourselves, and once I'm in the ministry, no one but Madam Bones will be able to see me anyway."

"Oh Merlin," Remus muttered, while Sirius grinned, mischievously.

"That's my godson," he declared, proudly. "Well then Harry, go ahead, and don't do anything that I wouldn't do. In the meantime, I'm going to ride Buckbeak for a little while."

"Yes, that's a good idea. Buckbeak will appreciate it. Harry, please be careful," Remus added, looking at Harry in apparent concern.

"I promise," Harry replied, before he grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace and shouted, "Ministry of Magic."

HP

Since no one was able to see him, no one bothered him to take away his wand or to announce him to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's office.

Stepping around the desk of Madam Bones' secretary, Harry hesitantly knocked at the door and was relieved when he was called in.

A middle-aged woman, obviously Madam Bones, was sitting at her desk, while a man was sitting opposite of her. Both seemed to be engrossed in a discussion.

Looking up, however, a smile spread over the witch's face, as she stepped around her desk and greeted him in a soft voice. "Harry Potter, how nice of you to come and visit me."

"Hello Madam Bones; I'm sorry for disturbing you unannounced," Harry replied and quickly thrust the small parchment into the witch's hands.

"Harry Potter?" The wizard, who was sitting opposite of her, all but shrieked, turning around quickly. "Where is he?" he then hissed at Madam Bones, and Harry realised in shock that it was none other than the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

"Oh, he just came and handed me a parchment," Amelia Bones replied, calmly, quickly reading the address. "He was in and out very quickly. He's already left."

Alert, Harry hurried out of the door, making sure to slam the door shut as he went. _'That was a close call,_ ' he thought, as he quickly made his way out of the ministry and back home.

 **Amelia Bones**

Amelia had to try hard not to laugh at the minister's expression of pure disappointment upon realising that Harry Potter had been right next to him and he had not known about it until it was too late.

"So, what do you intend to do about Barty Crouch Junior if he's really still alive?" Fudge enquired in a sharp tone.

"Tonight, after dinner, I'm going to go to Hogwarts together with Sirius Black in order to look for him," Amelia explained, calmly, causing Cornelius to shriek again.

 _'Oh Merlin, he shrieks like a little girl,'_ she thought in annoyance, when the minister's impatient voice penetrated her ears.

"What does Sirius Black have to do with this?" he all but hissed at her.

"He was an Auror, before you falsely arrested him, and I'm glad to get a really good Auror to join our ranks again, even if he told me that he'd only help out on occasion and would not be willing to work fulltime, at least not before his godson would turn seventeen," Amelia explained, slowly growing impatient with the stubborn minister.

"Oh well, if you're going to meet with Sirius Black, then please ask him about the whereabouts of Harry Potter," the minister instructed Amelia, causing her to inwardly roll her eyes, before she took a small parchment from her desk and handed it to Cornelius Fudge.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so very much for your kind comments on the previous chapter! Please take a few seconds to review this one as well, so that I can hopevully motivate my muse to write the next chapter tomorrow :)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 _ **A.N.:** From the numbers of reads as well as the reviews, I can see that not everyone has read chapter 7 yet, which I posted 24 hours ago. I still want to give you chapter 8 now, before I probably won't be able to post during the week. Please go back and read chapter 7 first if you have not read it yet. You might miss parts which could become important later on in the story. Thank you for reading and also for your kind reviews, which always help me continue writing. Enjoy..._

* * *

 **Amelia Bones**

The minister's eyes narrowed upon reading Sirius Black's letter.

"Black can't be serious now, can he?" he growled.

Trying hard to hide her amusement from the obviously enraged Minister of Magic, Amelia replied, calmly, "Cornelius, I believe that he's absolutely serious."

"Oh Merlin, I need to go to Hogwarts," Cornelius mumbled, giving her a murderous look. "My reputation…"

With that, the minister turned around and rushed out of the office, faster than she could remember having seen him ever before.

 _'Oh Merlin, he's so ridiculous,'_ Amelia thought with a combination of amusement and annoyance, as she readied herself to take the Floo to Potter Manor.

 **Harry**

When Amelia Bones arrived at Potter Manor on time for dinner, Sirius introduced her to Harry as his fiancée.

"Hello Madam Bones," Harry greeted her, grinning.

"Please just call me Amelia," the witch replied, smiling back at him. "Thanks so much for giving me something to laugh about earlier by the way," she added, causing Sirius to chuckle.

"I heard the story from Harry," he informed her. "Poor Fudge. It must have been such a shock to realise that Harry was gone before he even knew that he was there."

"And he received the second shock right afterwards upon reading your letter," Amelia replied, smirking. "He said something about going to Hogwarts right away and about a reputation to keep."

"Well, let's have dinner, before we follow him," Sirius suggested, leading the way to the dining room.

HP

"How exactly are you planning on outing Barty Crouch Junior?" Amelia enquired, looking from Sirius to Harry.

Pushing his plate away, as he felt unable to stomach any more of the delicious food the house-elves had provided, Harry turned to Remus. "Remus, do you still have the Marauders' Map?"

"Of course," his former professor replied, slapping his hand against his forehead. "I can't believe that we didn't think of it before." Making sure that everyone had finished eating, he excused himself and left the room, only to return two minutes later, carrying the already activated map in his hands.

"Barty Crouch Junior is indeed sitting at the teacher's table in the Great Hall," Remus informed them, "right next to Severus Snape."

"Isn't that where you were usually sitting?" Harry spoke up, pensively.

"Yes," Remus replied, letting his eyes wander about the map.

"Alastor Moody is the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor now," Amelia piped up.

"He's in his office, apparently skipping dinner," Remus said, pointing to a small dot labelled 'Alastor Moody.'

"Let's hurry then," Sirius spoke up, looking at Amelia in determination.

"You're late anyway," Harry uttered, pointing to the dozens of black dots which were just moving out of the Great Hall. "By the time you arrive, he'll have left. You better watch where he goes from there."

"That's true," Sirius agreed. "I'd rather have some coffee first anyway."

 **Albus Dumbledore**

Albus sighed in relief, when the headmistress of Beauxbatons and the headmaster of Durmstrang left his office, leaving him only at the mercy of a fuming Minister of Magic. Thankfully, his friend Alastor Moody, who had assisted him through the matter, remained with him.

Cornelius Fudge had officially cancelled the Triwizard Tournament, and with Moody's assistance Albus and his two colleagues had formed a simple contract that made the three schools compete against each other with Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum and Cedric Diggory as the participants. In fact, he felt more than content with the solution, not only because Harry Potter, for whom he cared a great deal, did not have to participate in spite of not being a student, but also because it diverted a lot of the responsibility from the ministry to him.

 _'The less influence the ministry has the better,'_ he thought in satisfaction.

"Albus, this is not the last word that we've spoken about the matter," Cornelius spoke up, sounding furious.

"Cornelius, what's there to speak about? It's done," Moody threw in, sounding impatient.

Before Albus could properly respond in a faint attempt to calm the minister, he heard a knock at his door. Grateful for any kind of distraction, Albus called his visitors in, and Amelia Bones entered his office together with none other than Sirius Black.

He was just about to greet them, when Cornelius began to verbally attack the newcomer. "Black, it's because of you that the British Ministry of Magic lost its reputation today."

"No, it's not because of Sirius, but because of him," Amelia spoke up and to Albus' horror pointed her wand at Alastor Moody.

"Sirius, what has Alastor to do with it?" Albus enquired, feeling thoroughly annoyed with the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"He isn't Moody," Sirius growled, while Amelia stunned the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. "It's Barty Crouch Junior."

"Nonsense, Barty Crouch Junior is dead, you idiot," Cornelius snarled, causing Amelia to turn from the stunned Auror to the minister.

"Cornelius, Sirius is not an idiot, and Barty Crouch is very much alive, just for your information. We'll just have to wait for the Polyjuice potion to wear off," she said in a firm, no-nonsense voice.

To Albus' relief, it took mere ten minutes for the potion to fade, revealing indeed a very much alive Barty Crouch Junior. Amelia sent a Patronus to summon Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt, while still keeping Crouch stunned for the time being.

"How did you know, and especially, where's the real Alastor?" Albus asked Sirius, feeling extremely concerned for his old friend.

"He's in his office," Sirius informed him, and Albus decided to leave his office to Amelia and the Aurors, while he went to look after his friend.

 **Hermione**

While the Triwizard Tournament remained the main topic of the school, before it became replaced by the Yule Ball, Hermione engrossed herself in her research about the time turner.

 _'The problem is how to test it_ ,' she thought. ' _I can't very well go back a whole day just to test if it works._ '

With the beginning of the Christmas holidays, she returned home to visit with her parents, only to travel back to Hogwarts on time for the Yule Ball. Just to be sure that she had not missed anything in her research about the Knight Bus, she summoned the Knight Bus to travel to Hogsmeade instead of taking the Hogwarts Express. _'I just hope that nothing happens because of doing underage magic,'_ she thought, as she boarded the bus with apprehension. During her ride on the bus, which took almost an hour due to the intense traffic on Christmas morning, she let her eyes wander around the bus, thoroughly examining everything that seemed important to its conduct and behaviour.

 _'No, I can't find any hint on which to build up a fruitful research, and Luna's hint about travelling imps seems nonsense, as it's solely conducted by a human,_ ' she mused, as she walked up to the castle. Shaking her head in annoyance about the weeks of research spent in vain during the summer, she resolved to continue concentrating on a charm for the time turner instead.

 _'I just hope the twins are going to behave,_ ' she thought, as she readied herself for the Yule Ball, feeling quite reassured by the fact that she was going to attend the ball together with Fred, while George was going to take Angelina. On the following day, she was scheduled to travel to Potter Manor, where she and the twins were going to spend the remaining week of the holidays.

HP

Hearing from Hermione that she had taken the Knight Bus to travel to Hogwarts on Christmas morning, the twins talked her into choosing the Knight Bus again for their trip to Potter Manor.

"It's not only much faster than the Hogwarts Express…"

"… but we can also talk about our research," the twins expressed, making Hermione reconsider.

 _'Well, it can't hurt, and we'll arrive by lunchtime at the latest,_ ' she thought, feeling strangely reassured to have the twins with her this time. Nevertheless, they were not able to find out anything that would give them a clue for any further research.

During the relatively short ride, she quickly told them about her research considering the time turner, pointing out the problem of not being able to testing it over a longer period of time.

"Ah, but that's easy…"

"…as we can just include a specific number…"

"… of hours in the charm…"

"… which can just be exchanged by another number," the twins suggested in their ever-annoying way of speaking.

"So, you mean we could use a charm to take us back, for example, two hours, try if it works, and then do the same with like 100,000 hours," Hermione queried, giving the twins a pensive look.

"Well, maybe we should…"

"… use days…"

"… instead of hours," the twins quipped.

"Oh right, then we'd only need about five thousand I suppose," Hermione replied, slowly. "While being at Potter Manor, we could easily go back in time for a day."

 **Harry**

While Harry was extremely happy to have Hermione and the twins with him during the week between Christmas and the New Year, everyone spent the whole time researching charms for the time turner, before Hermione and Sirius finally managed to develop the charm which they needed for their plan.

"We're going to try it out…"

"… as we need to spend a day at the Burrow…"

"… in any case," the twins offered, and everyone readily accepted, knowing that it would be difficult for everyone to spend their time at the manor while being careful to not meet their other selves.

"This is really strange," Remus spoke up, once the twins had left with Hermione's time turner, only to come into the room an instant later.

"But it won't work," Hermione said, sighing.

"Why not?" Harry asked, incredulously, giving her a sharp look.

"Because," Amelia, who used to join them for the evenings, as her niece had remained at Hogwarts, spoke up, "we want to fetch your parents here and not spend the last thirteen years together with them in their time. As long as we don't find a way to travel back into the future, the time turner won't work for us."

A simultaneous groan followed her explanation, as everyone recognised the flaw in their research.

"Maybe there's something else we could check out," Hermione spoke up, seemingly hesitant. "A girl told me something about travelling imps, when I said something about looking for information about the Knight Bus. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

The adults glanced at each other before simultaneously shaking their heads.

"No," Remus finally replied. "But that doesn't mean that they don't possibly exist. Harry, didn't you get a book about magical animals from Hagrid?"

Harry nodded and returned to his room to fetch the book, which he had received for his birthday. _'I should at least have begun to read it by now,_ ' he thought, as he returned to the living room, where the elves were just providing everyone with large cups of hot chocolate.

To his relief, the book was organised in alphabetic order. However, there was no entry for 'Travelling imps'. _'Maybe just imps,_ ' he thought, smiling when he found the topic.

 _"Imps: Imps are small, magical animals which are famous for doing mischief. There are various kinds of imps like, for example, weather imps, furniture imps and travel imps,"_ he read, letting out a deep sigh. "This is all that's written here," he added, pushing the open book over to Remus.

"Travel imps," Remus said, seemingly deep in thought. "Oh well, at least we know now that they exist. Maybe this warrants for another trip to Fairy Alley. If there's a place, in which we'd be able to find out something about travel imps, I'm sure it would be there."

"That's true," Sirius agreed. "Let's head to Fairy Alley tomorrow and try to find some information about the travel imps," he then suggested.

"Let's do that," Remus decided, and the four teenagers eagerly voiced their agreement.

"I'm in on this," Amelia spoke up. "As tomorrow is New Year's Eve, I've taken the day off to spend it with the lot of you anyway."

"Thank you," Sirius replied and leaned over to pull Amelia into a deep kiss.

 _'Disgusting,_ ' Harry thought, rolling his eyes at the twins, who immediately began to chuckle.

 **Hermione**

At ten o'clock the following morning, which according to Sirius was the opening time at Fairy Alley, everyone was ready to head there.

As it was a cold but beautiful morning, they took the twenty-minute walk into the city instead of Apparating and entered Fairy Alley.

"Let's head to the Stretched Harp and look for a book containing further information about travel imps," Sirius suggested, and everyone readily agreed, even if Hermione wondered why they had to go into a bookshop to look for something so special with seven people. ' _Two would be enough_ ,' she thought, as she took in her surroundings.

All of a sudden, she noticed that, once again, Draco Malfoy was heading up the street. ' _No doubt where he's going,_ ' she thought and quietly alerted the others, so that they would quietly follow the Slytherin at a small distance.

Before she knew what happened, however, the blond boy stopped dead in his tracks, causing their group to stop as well.

"It's Lucius Malfoy," Harry whispered. "I'm going nearer to hear what they say."

To Hermione's horror, Harry walked forward and only stopped, when he was standing right behind Draco, just when his father approached him from the other direction.

"It's all right…"

"… they can't hear or see him," the twins reminded her, apparently having noticed her shocked expression.

 _'Oh right,_ ' Hermione thought in relief.

 **Draco**

Glad that he was away from Hogwarts and free to do as he wished, Draco once again took the Floo to Ireland heading to Fairy Alley to visit his mother like he had done every other day since returning from the school. He quietly walked along the main street, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Father," he said in shock, when the tall figure of his father came to stand in front of him.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" Lucius enquired, sharply.

"Visiting Ms. Elfine," Draco replied, not wanting to hide his knowledge about his real mother anymore.

His father frowned. "Who told you about her?" he asked, crossly.

"She told me," Draco said, innocently.

"Don't play games with me, Draco. Who made you speak with her in the first place?" Lucius wanted to know, seemingly angered.

"The fairies and elves in the clover garden," Draco admitted, wondering if his father was able to talk to the fairies.

"Draco," Lucius continued to speak, waving his wand around them, apparently casting a Silencing spell, "the Dark Lord is going to require your help soon."

"The Dark Lord?" Draco repeated in disgust, even if he was glad about the change of topic. "Is that the creature you're nursing in the cellar of Malfoy Manor? No thanks, I'm not going to help that creature."

"Oh Draco, you will," his father insisted. "Soon, he will be back to glory, and we're going to be in the first row of his followers…"

"I won't," Draco interrupted him, matter-of-factly. "I'm not going to support him."

"If it comes to war, who're you going to support then? Potter?" Lucius scoffed.

"Yes, I'm going to support Potter against the Dark Lord," Draco said, on the one hand feeling thoroughly frightened to stand up against his father, but on the other hand feeling relieved that he had managed to tell him the truth.

His father's cane angrily flashed into the air.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind comments on the previous chapter. I appreciate them very much. Well, have a nice week, and I'll see you next weekend._


	9. Chapter 9

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

"You're going to regret this," Lucius Malfoy threatened his son and was just about to cast a spell, when Harry reacted.

Quickly pulling his wand, he cast a strong Stunning spell at the older wizard, sighing in relief when the man crumpled to the ground.

"Accio Lucius Malfoy's wand," Harry said, quickly catching the approaching wand with his left hand.

Draco spun around. "What was that?" he wondered aloud.

Knowing that the other boy would not be able to hear or see him, Harry quickly waved Hermione over.

"Hi Draco, that was Harry," his best friend quickly explained to the Slytherin. "He didn't want your father to hurt you."

"Potter?" Draco asked, incredulously looking around. "Where's he?"

"You can't see him," Hermione explained. "He's under some kind of safety spell, but he was behind you and overheard your conversation with your father. He said to tell you thanks for supporting him."

"Oh well, that's what I told Father," Draco scoffed. "It doesn't mean that I'm going to do it."

"In any case, you better leave before your father…" Hermione interrupted herself, when Harry said, "Ask him if he's comfortable enough to return to his father's home. If he needs a place to stay, he's welcome to stay with us for the time being."

When Hermione repeated for Draco, the blond boy's eyes became wide like saucers. "Potter, can you hear me?" he enquired and, seeing Hermione nod in confirmation, continued, "if you really trust me not to harm any of you, I'd really appreciate it. I could stay at Fairy Alley, but Father would probably look for me here."

"Harry, are you really sure about that?" Hermione asked, eyeing her best friend in apparent concern.

"I believe that his conversation with his father was genuine, so, yes," Harry replied, nodding his head in affirmation. He had not been able to see the other boy's face while he had been taking to his father; however, he had very well realised from his composure how very much he was scared of the older wizard. _'He won't be able to really harm me let alone bring any Death Eaters into the manor,'_ he thought.

"Harry asks if the Veela is really your mother," Hermione enquired, causing Draco to stare at her in shock. "Well, as I said, he overheard your conversation."

"Yes, but, does it matter?" Draco asked.

"Of course not, Draco boy," the twins spoke up, simultaneously.

Harry realised that Draco had not even noticed his company until that moment.

"Sirius," he addressed his godfather. "I think Draco needs our help. Why don't we take him to Buckbean, while everyone else proceeds with our plan here? We'll all meet at home afterwards."

When Hermione repeated his words to Draco, the Slytherin agreed immediately.

"Even if you seem to not really be my cousin, Harry and I are going to help you," Sirius addressed the boy, before the three wizards left to head to Diagon Alley.

"Mr. Black, if you need proof as to where my loyalties lie, you can always ask Blaise Zabini," Draco told the older wizard. "He knows everything about me."

"Just call me Sirius," Sirius offered, "and if Harry trusts you, that's enough for me. He knows what he's doing."

 **Hermione**

 _'I can't believe it,_ ' Hermione thought, as Remus led Amelia, her and the twins to the Stretched Harp to look for some kind of information about travel imps. _'Draco Malfoy. Hell must have frozen over._ '

"I just hope Harry really knows what he's doing," she whispered to Amelia, who was walking on her right side.

"Well, the conversation had to be genuine, since neither Draco nor his father seem to have noticed us," Amelia replied, pensively.

"And Malfoy cast the Silencing charm, so it's not as if they were having a conversation for us to hear," Hermione added, feeling strangely reassured by the older witch's words.

Finally, they reached the Stretched Harp and thoroughly skimmed the books about magical animals for some kind of information about travel imps, however, without any success.

"I'll just ask the shop owner," Hermione said in determination, ignoring the twins' comments, as she stepped over to the young wizard, who seemed to be in charge for the shop.

"Excuse me, sir," she addressed the man in a soft voice, "we're looking for information about travel imps. Do you have anything…" She slowly trailed off, as the shop keeper lightly shook his head.

"Probably not," he admitted. "What you're looking for is the ' _Encyclopaedia of Magical Beings'_ ; however, we don't have it anymore. You can only find it in second-hand bookshops."

Apparently noticing the silent plead in her questioning look, he continued, "When my father retired, he opened his own second-hand bookshop. It's called ' _The Curved Harp'_ , and it's situated right next to Bewley's in Cruise's Street. You know Bewley's, don't you?" he enquired.

"Yes, of course," Remus replied on Hermione's behalf, who did not question the older wizard's response, knowing that Remus knew Limerick quite well.

"Very well. It's behind an old fashioned, brown door with a small harp, similar to the sign of our shop here. For Muggles, it's not visible, but you can hardly miss it."

"Thank you so much," Hermione replied, eagerly.

"I can't guarantee that he has the book, but he'll be much more forthcoming if you tell him that I sent you," the shop owner advised them, informing them that his name was Cian O'Brien.

The small group thanked the shop owner and hurriedly left Fairy Alley.

 **Draco**

' _Am I dreaming?_ ' Draco wondered, as he followed Sirius and an invisible Harry Potter into Gringotts.

 _'Maybe Father wouldn't really hurt me, considering that I'm his only heir,'_ he thought, worried that it was exaggerating to seek refuge with his school nemesis. _'But I don't want to be used for anything concerning the Dark Lord,'_ he reassured himself.

Sirius asked to meet Buckbean, assuring the goblin who greeted them that it would not take longer than two minutes, before they were led into an office, which Draco thought belonged to a goblin holding a fairly high position at the bank.

Buckbean seemed surprised to see a Malfoy in his office; however, Sirius explained the matter, and Buckbean addressed him in a relatively friendly voice.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said, "I'm going to cast a charm at you, which will enable you to see and hear Mr. Potter. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes please," Draco replied in a polite voice, causing the goblin to nod and quickly cast a spell.

An instant later, his former classmate came into view.

"Hi Draco," Harry said, extending a hand to him.

 _'Like I did at the beginning of our first year,'_ Draco recalled, before he quietly shook the other boy's hand.

"Thanks Potter," he said, quietly.

"It's all right," Harry replied, shrugging. He asked Buckbean for a small parchment and scribbled a few words down, before he handed the parchment to Draco.

It was the address of Potter Manor.

 _'It's in Ireland?_ ' Draco thought, incredulously. _'I didn't know that. Probably Father doesn't know either.'_ A smirk crossed his face, as the parchment vanished into thin air.

"Let's go home and talk," Sirius suggested, and both boys nodded their agreement.

 **Harry**

 _'I can't believe that I invited Draco Malfoy into Potter Manor,_ ' Harry thought, when they took their seats in the living room after introducing Draco to Gina, asking the elf to have a room prepared for the boy near Harry's.

"Just to set a few ground rules," he hesitantly began to speak. "This is my ancestors' home, and I expect you to behave towards the portraits of my grandparents and great grandparents."

"I will," Draco assured him.

"If you need anything, you can call Gina or Dobby. You probably still remember him," Harry continued in a no-nonsense voice.

"Yes, I do," Draco replied without any emotion visible on his face.

"You will also remember Buckbeak," Harry continued, carefully observing the other boy's expression. "He was not killed, because we saved him and brought him to Potter Manor. He's residing in one of the stables and is allowed to freely roam our garden. If that's not acceptable for you, I suggest that you remain inside and not venture into the park behind the house."

"I understand," Draco said, nodding his understanding. "I'll be careful to not come near him."

"And the last rule is that you won't attack anyone here in our home, neither inside nor outside, and you will treat everyone equally, independently of their blood status," Harry continued in a no-nonsense voice.

"Agreed," Draco promised, letting out what seemed to be a sigh of relief.

"I wonder where the others are," Harry thought aloud, turning to Sirius.

"They're late," Sirius agreed, shrugging. "Maybe they found something interesting." Turning to Draco, he suggested, "Why don't you call Dobby and ask him to fetch some belongings from your home? In the meantime, Harry can show you to your room."

HP

It was almost dinner time, when Remus, Amelia, Hermione and the twins returned. Before Harry could ask what had taken them so long, his view fell onto the book which Hermione was carrying. It was a large tome, which somehow looked antique enough for him to wonder where they had bought it.

"Do they really sell old books like that at the Stretched Harp?" he asked, incredulously, causing Hermione to dive into a long monologue about the Curved Harp, a small second-hand bookshop a ten-minute walk from Fairy Alley.

"Now, I believe that it's late enough, so let's have dinner before doing so much as opening the book," Sirius interrupted the girl's tirade, much to the relief of everyone else.

"Considering that it's New Year's Eve…"

"… we still have the whole evening to read the book," the twins agreed, grinning.

 **Amelia**

 _'During the next holidays, I'll bring Susan here,_ ' Amelia thought, as she observed the young people interact with each other during dinner. They even acted with Draco Malfoy as if he had always been there. True, the boy was a bit shy for a Malfoy, _'but leave him a couple of hours in these twins' company, and he'll adjust_ ,' she thought in amusement, when Sirius, who had been eager to try the desert, suddenly transformed into a yellow canary.

 _'I should question Draco about his father's intentions. They said something about Voldemort earlier,'_ she suddenly thought; however, not wanting to spoil New Year's Eve for anyone, she decided to put the matter off for a day or two.

As soon as the house-elves had cleared the table, Hermione placed the old tome right onto the dinner table and began to look for travel imps.

"Here," she blurted out in clear excitement, "is a whole entry about travel imps."

She skimmed the writing, before she began to read. "It is rarely known that travel imps are the managers of the Knight Bus. Sitting in the wheels of the bus in groups of five, they try to drive the guests mad by making the bus drive tight bends or jump over distances. Their fur is mostly green, and they are sometimes mistaken for Leprechauns; however, while driving the Knight Bus, they usually remain invisible and never leave the wheels. At 5:55 every Sunday morning, they drive the bus to the Imp Cauldron, a secret place in Fairy Alley, where the bus remains for 55 minutes, invisibly to the public, while the travel imps are being fed by the _culinary imps_ (see page 83)."

"Well, that's a huge improvement," Sirius blurted out, seemingly happy.

"So what?"

"Do we need to go to Fairy Alley…"

"… at six o'clock in the morning…"

"… and talk the travel imps…"

"… into making a time travel with us?" the twins enquired, wearing doubtful looks.

"We neither know where the Imp Cauldron is nor if we'll be able to communicate with them at all," Amelia spoke up, inwardly sighing.

"That's not a problem to find out," Draco said in a soft voice. "We can just go to Fairy Alley and ask the fairies or the leprechauns. I'm sure they'll help us." He remained quiet for a moment, before adding, "Would you mind enlightening me what this is about though?"

"Maybe we should continue this conversation in the morning," Amelia suggested. "Before telling Mr. Malfoy about your project, we should learn more about his motives as well as his father's intentions."

"I agree," Sirius acknowledged immediately.

"Sorry Draco, this isn't meant against you, but I'm sure you understand that we have to be careful," Harry explained to the blond boy in a gentle voice.

"I understand," Draco replied. "Just ask, and I'll tell you everything I know, even under Veritaserum."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Amelia said, smiling.

"Oh, please just call me Draco," Draco corrected her, letting out a deep sigh. "Mr. Malfoy is my father, and right now, I don't want anything to do with him."

"Why don't we go out…"

"… into the park…"

"… and play a nice game of Quidditch?" the twins suggested, grinning broadly.

Everyone voiced their consent in apparent relief, apart from Hermione. Amelia had noticed before that the girl did not like flying, even if she was not bad at it.

"Why don't we let the boys play and go for a walk through the park in the meantime?" she suggested to the younger witch.

"I'd like that," Hermione agreed, smiling. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go and visit Buckbeak."

"That would be nice. I haven't made his acquaintance yet," Amelia admitted, and the two witches headed out into the park. Even if it was dark, it was not difficult to find their way, as there were small lights just above the ground lining the paths.

"It's beautiful," Hermione voiced what they both thought, as they walked towards the stables in amazement.

The girl introduced Amelia to the hippogriff, and Amelia was astounded by the large animal's gracefulness. She was just gently petting Buckbeak's head, when she felt a tag at the ring, which she was invisibly wearing on a chain.

"Oh Merlin, I need to go," she informed the girl. "It's some kind of emergency. I must go to the ministry and check what it is. Please tell the others that I'll be back as soon as possible." Without waiting for a response, she apparated away, glad that Sirius had not put up any anti-apparition wards on the manor.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so very much for your kind comments on the previous chapter! My muse appreciates it a lot. I'm sorry that I did not manage to update yesterday, but I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. See you next weekend._


	10. Chapter 10

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Hermione**

Hermione remained with Buckbeak for a while, before she slowly returned to the Quidditch pitch, where Harry and the twins were playing Quidditch against Draco, Remus and Sirius. She felt relieved on the one hand, surprised on the other, when Draco caught the Snitch.

"Well played, Draco," Sirius commended the boy, once they reached the ground.

"Thanks," Draco replied, pouting. "I wonder why it is that I never manage to beat Harry in the Slytherin versus Gryffindor matches."

"Well, you won't have to play against me at school anymore," Harry spoke up, grinning. "I don't mind having you win occasionally when playing with family and friends at home."

"Where's Amelia?" Sirius asked, turning to Hermione, just when Amelia popped up in front of the kitchen door.

"Stupid Lucius Malfoy," she blurted out. "He went to Cornelius stating that he had been attacked at Fairy Alley and that his son had been kidnapped. Neither of them was pleased when I told them that Harry saved Draco from being attacked by his father and that Draco sought refuge at Harry's place," she added in apparent amusement.

"And?" Draco prodded. "Knowing my father, there will still be some consequences for Potter, err, I mean Harry and me."

"No," Amelia assured him, smirking. "When I told them that they were free to ask Buckbean if it was true that you decided to come to Harry's home willingly, without any pressure from him or anyone else, your father became silent. He certainly knows that it was his own fault that you left. He was angry though, and I believe that you must be careful once you're back at Hogwarts."

 _'His father really is the most horrible person I've ever met,_ ' Hermione thought, unconsciously letting out a sigh. _'Well, maybe apart from Harry's uncle,_ ' she then recalled, looking up in surprise, when Gina appeared with eight glasses of champagne, stating that the New Year was going to commence in three minutes.

 **Harry**

By the time Harry woke up on New Year's Day, everyone else was already gathered in the dining room for lunch. _'I can't believe that they're going back to Hogwarts today,'_ he thought in desperation. As nice it was to have two caring father figures, he was going to miss Hermione, the twins and even Draco.

To his surprise, it seemed that Amelia was just questioning Draco about his father's activities, especially concerning Voldemort.

Draco shrugged. "I only know that my father and some others are raising a strange creature in the dungeons, and that thing must somehow be related to the Dark Lord. When he told me that he expected me to help the Dark Lord in the near future, I refused. I'm sorry, but I don't know anything else," he said in a firm voice. "I don't mind if you wish to question me under Veritaserum."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Amelia replied in a soft voice. "I believe you."

"So do I," Sirius agreed. "You must be extremely careful at Hogwarts though. While your father can't reach you here, he can come and try to make you see reason at Hogwarts."

"I know," Draco replied, dully. "But what can I do?"

"There isn't anything that you can do," Remus spoke up, pensively. "I think Amelia and Sirius could warn the Aurors, who are stationed at Hogwarts during the Triwizard tournament, to keep an eye on your father in case he makes an appearance at the school."

"We'll do that," Amelia confirmed in a no-nonsense voice. "I'll also ask Minister Fudge to agree to a raid of Malfoy Manor."

Draco let out a small snort. "Sorry," he quickly apologized, "but will the minister really act against my father? He's much too dependent on the Malfoy money."

"That's the problem," Amelia conceded. "Well, we'll try anyway."

HP

During the afternoon, they once more talked about the travel imps and how to find the Imp Cauldron.

"You probably won't be able to speak to the fairies or leprechauns at Fairy Alley," Draco spoke up, pensively. "So it might be difficult to find out more about the travel imps for the time being."

"Are you able to communicate with fairies or leprechauns?" Hermione asked the boy, who gave her a firm nod in return.

"Since I'm part Veela and part fairy, I'm able to communicate with all of them," he admitted, quietly.

"So we can only wait for you to come back here at the beginning of the summer holidays," Harry concluded, feeling clear exasperation at the thought of having to wait for months before they would be able to proceed with their plan of rescuing his parents.

"If you can't find anyone else who might be able to help, I'm afraid so," Draco replied, sighing. "Only my father would be able to pull me out of school for a weekend, and I'm pretty certain that he won't do me the favour in the near future."

"It's all right," Sirius spoke up. "For now, you concentrate on your studies. Harry, if you want to take your OWLs this summer, you'll have much work to do. We can worry about the travel imps and why we need them during the summer holidays."

With that, they adjourned the discussion in favour of a last round of Quidditch, before Hermione, the twins and Draco stepped into the fireplace to travel to Hogwarts.

 **Albus Dumbledore**

While Minerva had forewarned him that Hermione and the twins would arrive in his office thirty minutes before the beginning of the welcoming feast, Albus had not been alerted to the fact that Draco Malfoy was going to travel together with the three Gryffindors.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said in surprise, eyeing the four students with curiosity.

"Professor," Ms. Granger spoke up, apparently noticing his surprised look, "Draco and his father had a huge fight, when Draco refused to become a Death Eater. Therefore, he stayed with us for a few days, so that his father could not reach him."

"Is that true, Mr. Malfoy?" Albus enquired. He knew that Ms. Granger could be fully trusted, however, the situation was too strange to simply accept it.

"Yes sir," Draco Malfoy replied, sincerely. "I hope that my father won't be able to do something to me here; however, Sirius and Madam Bones have already alerted the Aurors to keep an eye out for him."

"Very well," Albus nodded in understanding. "Mr. Malfoy, you can come to me if you need help at any time."

"Thank you sir," the boy responded, and the four students left his office.

Albus looked at Fawkes. "The boy seemed honest, didn't he?" he asked his companion, who gave him an enthusiastic trill in return.

#The nestling seems to have taken a different egg turn from his evil feeder# Fawkes voiced his opinion, lowering his head towards Albus to have his crown feathers stroked.

 **Hermione**

If the four students had anticipated that Lucius Malfoy would take one or the other kind of action against his son, they could be pleasantly surprised by the fact that Malfoy Senior remained where he was and did not do as much as contact Draco during the next couple of months. Only Narcissa Malfoy wrote to Draco and sent him packages like she had done since he became a first-year student at Hogwarts.

 _'I'd rather be at Potter Manor with the others,'_ Hermione thought in the morning of the third task, while she absently consumed a bowl of fruit salad, only looking up at the sound of the post owls swooping into the Great Hall.

A large eagle caught her attention, and she looked towards the Slytherin table, instinctively knowing that it came for Draco Malfoy. She had seen it multiple times before, even if she had not paid the bird any specific attention so far.

Absentmindedly observing how Draco took a small package from the owl, she let out a surprised shout, when her classmate was whisked away instantly. Her eyes widening in horror, she ran towards the head table.

"Professor Dumbledore, Draco has just been abducted," she whispered, terrified.

The headmaster let his eyes wander to the Slytherin table, and his expression sobered upon realising that the boy was indeed missing from his house table.

"Professor, can you please contact Amelia Bones and ask her to take some Aurors to Malfoy Manor to rescue him?" she demanded, trying her best to not panic at the idea what might be happening to the boy who had become her friend during the last couple of months.

"Come with me," Dumbledore invited her, and together they left the Great Hall, hurrying towards the headmaster's office.

While the headmaster leaned into the fireplace and spoke with the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a sudden idea crossed Hermione's mind.

"Dobby," she called the elf, who, to her relief, appeared immediately. "Dobby, Mr. Malfoy has abducted Draco. Can you go and try to fetch him here?" she asked without even waiting for the kind elf to greet her.

The elf's eyes widened in apparent horror.

"Dobby wills goes and tries," he promised, popping away with a loud crack.

"Madam Bones is going to lead a group of Aurors to Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore informed her in a grave voice. "Asking Dobby to help was a good idea though."

It was just an instant later that Dobby returned. "Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter's Mione. Dobby can't reachs Draco Malfoy."

"That means that he must be somewhere behind the Fidelius charm," Dumbledore addressed the elf. "Would you still be able to find him at Malfoy Manor, Dobby?"

The elf hesitated for a moment, before he replied, "Dobby cans goes to the manor, but Dobby thinks that maybe Draco Malfoy is unconscious. Since Dobby is not bond to the Malfoys anymore, Dobby cans not helps Draco Malfoy. Perhaps Fawkes cans rescue Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione followed the headmaster's gaze towards the phoenix's perch, where Baby Fawkes was comfortably nestled between several fluffy pillows.

"I'm sorry, he only had his burning day a few days ago," the headmaster explained, gravely. "He's still naked and can't fly yet."

 **Sirius**

Sirius had just taken Buckbeak out for a long ride, and the hippogriff made a soft landing right in front of the stables, when Gina appeared in front of them.

"Master Sirius, Mistress Amelia is floo calling you in the entrance hall," the elf informed him. "Master Sirius cans go, Gina will takes Buckbeak back into the stable."

"Thank you Gina," Sirius uttered and hurried inside, curious as to what his fiancée wanted.

"Hi Meli," he addressed Amelia, grinning, "did you miss me so much that you…"

"Sirius," she interrupted him, causing him to notice her grim expression. "This is not a social call," she explained. "Draco has been taken from Hogwarts by Portkey."

"Oh Merlin," Sirius replied in shock. "Do you think it was Lucius Malfoy?"

"Apparently so," Amelia informed him. "Hermione recognised his eagle. Therefore, I'm going to lead a group of Aurors to Malfoy Manor. Will you join us?"

"Of course, let me just tell Remus and Harry. I'll be over in five minutes," Sirius promised, quickly ending the call.

 _'I just hope he won't use Draco for some strange ritual to bring Voldemort back to life or such,'_ he thought with some kind of foreboding, as he strode towards the library, where Remus was teaching Harry.

"I'll go with you," Harry uttered, jumping from his seat, as soon as Sirius had explained the matter.

"No, you will not," Sirius replied in a no-nonsense voice. "You're going to remain here in safety."

"No one will be able to see me anyway. It'll be absolutely safe for me," Harry protested.

"No, and that's my final word," Sirius replied shortly. "I'll see you." With that, he quickly left the library and hurried to the closest fireplace to make his way to the ministry.

 **Draco**

Draco inwardly groaned in annoyance, as he felt the distinctive pull behind his navel, knowing that he had been set up and taken somewhere by Portkey. ' _Probably to Malfoy Manor,_ ' he thought, only to realise that his fear had been true the instant he arrived in his father's office.

"Father," he acknowledged the other wizard's presence.

"Draco," his father replied, smirking. "How nice of you to join me at our family home."

"Not willingly," Draco growled, giving his father a furious look.

"Things are as they may, in any case, you're going to do your job today," Lucius informed him.

"No, I won't do any job. I wish to return to Hogwarts at once," Draco replied in a firm voice, even if aware that his father would not respect his wishes.

"You will do as you're told," Lucius snarled, "and until then, you're going to remain here in my office."

The instant he pointed his wand at his son, Draco's mind went blank.

 **Amelia**

Amelia stood next to Sirius, when the group of nine of her most trusted Aurors grabbed the Portkey that Auror Shacklebolt had provided. It would take them right to a side entrance of Malfoy Manor, one which they could probably open with a small bomb, which the Weasley twins had recently developed for her.

Five minutes later, the group that was hidden behind multiple layers of notice-me-not and invisibility charms carefully entered Malfoy Manor. They spread out in groups of three to search for the entrance to the dungeons, agreeing to meet again at the side entrance thirty minutes later.

However, to their surprise, not only the dungeons were completely void of living beings, but also the manor itself seemed to be empty apart from about two dozen house-elves.

However, when the Aurors met again after one hour of searching the manor, Auror Tonks appeared with Narcissa Malfoy in tow.

Amelia quickly made herself visible, and the Aurors followed her example.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I apologize for intruding," Amelia addressed the woman, "however, we're looking for Draco."

"Draco is at Hogwarts," the woman replied, sounding surprised.

"No, he's not," Amelia informed her. "He was taken from Hogwarts by Portkey earlier this morning."

"Ah, that's Lucius' doing then," Narcissa groaned, letting out a long sigh.

"Do you know where your husband took Draco?" Amelia enquired.

"No," the woman replied, before she suddenly began to explain that her husband had probably taken Draco to Fairy Alley for some reason, which Amelia was not really able to follow.

She gave Tonks a questioning look, causing the Auror to shrug in apparent disbelief.

"Shacklebolt, Wilkinson, please take Mrs. Malfoy to the ministry for questioning under Veritaserum," she uttered.

The two Aurors nodded and stepped over to Narcissa, made her touch a small bucket, which Shacklebolt held out for the witch and his fellow Auror, and the three of them left instantly.

"Tonks," Amelia turned to her colleague to have her activate the Portkey for everyone else as well, when she suddenly found herself at wand point.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind comments on the previous chapter, and sorry for ending this one with a cliffy. Please tell me what you think, and I'll see you next weekend. Have a good week :-)_


	11. Chapter 11

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Draco**

By the time Draco's mind had returned to awareness, he found himself tied to a grave stone on a cemetery, only to witness how the Dark Lord was resurrected out of a large, black cauldron. However, the worst of all was that one of the Death Eaters took a piece of his, Draco's left arm, without his consent, using it in the process.

Afterwards, the Dark Lord called his followers, however, to his utter relief, Lucius pleaded that he might take Draco home in order to receive medical attention, before they would, of course, return instantly.

Fortunately, the Dark Lord allowed them to leave, and an instant later, his father activated a Portkey that brought them back to Malfoy Manor.

The first thing he noticed, when they stepped into the corridor leading to his surrogate mother's parlour, was a group of Aurors standing not far from them.

' _Amelia_ ,' he recognised the witch, instinctively knowing that the Aurors had come for him. ' _Oh and Sirius, too. Thank Merlin_ ,' he thought in relief that only intensified, when one of the Aurors stunned his father before he could do any harm with his wand that had been pointed directly at Amelia.

"Send Malfoy straight to Azkaban," Amelia instructed an Auror. "I've enough evidence to send him to the prison, and it would be too dangerous to have Malfoy stay in a ministry cell, as Fudge might go and release him, knowing that he's continuously being bribed by Malfoy," she explained to the Aurors, before turning to him.

"Draco, are you all right?" she asked, eyeing him in apparent concern.

"No, I'm not," he replied, showing her the large wound on his arm that had been carelessly cut by one of the Death Eaters, whom Draco had not recognised.

Turning back to the Aurors, Amelia instructed them to return to the ministry. "I will take Draco to Hogwarts. Sirius, would you like to accompany us?"

"Of course," her fiancé replied, nodding. _'It's about the first time that I see him and he's not grinning,'_ Draco thought, as he absentmindedly led Amelia and Sirius to the fireplace in his father's study, still cradling his injured arm in his right hand.

Almost relieved that the headmaster's office was empty, Draco walked straight to the hospital wing with the two adults quietly following him. ' _They're really nice_ ,' he thought. _'It's almost as if they would care, especially since I'd well be able to go to see Madam Pomfrey just by myself._ '

Only when he was lying in one of the crispy white beds and Madam Pomfrey had seen to his arm, while Sirius had fetched the headmaster, Amelia asked in a soft voice, "Will you tell us what happened?"

Not really wanting to think about the matter again but knowing that it was inevitable, Draco gave the three adults a summary of what had occurred at the cemetery.

The headmaster nodded gravely. "Draco, I'm very sorry that I could not protect you from your father here at the school," he apologized, before admitting, "I've already heard that Voldemort is back and has summoned his followers. Professor Snape told me that he was called away."

"So Snape's really a Death Eater?" Sirius queried, giving the old wizard a critical look.

"He's my spy," Dumbledore countered. "He's on our side now."

 _'I wonder if he really is,'_ Draco thought. _'He seems to be quite close to Father and always had to be, considering that he made him my godfather._ ' However, he decided to keep his opinion to himself – for the time being.

"Draco?" Sirius' voice brought Draco back to reality. "Do you want to go home with me?"

Draco looked at the older wizard in surprise. "I'd like that," he said, suddenly feeling very happy. "Please sir," he added with a small grin playing on his lips.

"Where exactly is home?" Dumbledore wanted to know, however, had to content himself with the response that home was where Sirius and Amelia lived together with Remus Lupin. "And Harry I suppose," Dumbledore replied, grimly, causing Draco to smile.

"Harry and I have become friends, and I'm going to support him against the Dark Lord," Draco informed the old wizard.

"Will I see you back here for your fifth Hogwarts year?" Dumbledore enquired, giving him a sharp look.

"Of course sir," Draco promised.

 **Albus Dumbledore**

After a long day, Albus was sitting in his office playing Wizard's Chess with his deputy. On the one hand, he was glad that Cedric Diggory had won the tournament for Hogwarts, however, on the other hand, he was terrified about Voldemort's resurrection, which he had witnessed first-hand by the memory that Draco Malfoy had shared with him.

"I should have better been able to protect the young Malfoy," he said, absentmindedly moving his knight to E7.

"You couldn't have known," Minerva assured him. "I thought he'd be a Death Eater just like his father."

"No," Albus replied in a grave voice. "When he returned to Hogwarts on New Year's Day, he came together with Ms. Granger and the Weasley twins, and they told me that he had a row with his father, because he refused to support Voldemort and had decided to take Harry's side. I promised to protect him from his father as well as possible. But I didn't. In fact, the matter completely slipped my mind until Ms. Granger reminded me this morning."

"Well, there was nothing you could do about it," Minerva contradicted. "We can't check all owls for possible Portkeys."

"We can, and perhaps we need to do so, now that Voldemort is back," Albus said, pensively. "Harry is living together with Sirius and Remus by the way. Draco admitted to the fact. I need to speak with Sirius once again and try to make him see reason."

"Why?" Minerva asked, making Albus stare at his best friend in disbelief.

"Why what? Don't you deem it even more important for Harry to return to Hogwarts now that Voldemort is back?" he asked, incredulously.

"No Albus," Minerva said, matter-of-factly. "He's be gone for a year now, and you haven't been able to find him. I'd say, where he is, he's surely better protected than here, where people can simply kidnap students by Portkey."

"It's adamant for him to continue his studies though," Albus insisted, causing Minerva to chuckle.

"Albus, have you, by chance, taken a look at this morning's Daily Prophet?" she asked in inexplicable amusement.

"I didn't have the time to do such a thing," Albus replied, irritated by Minerva's unexpectant cheerfulness.

"Well then, otherwise you'd have known that Harry Potter passed his OWLs with outstanding results last week," Minerva informed him, making Albus' eyes widen in surprise.

"Is that true?" he asked in disbelief.

"Do you know me as someone to joke about such a thing?" his deputy enquired, her voice laced with sarcasm, as she added, "Check mate."

 **Harry**

Harry was simultaneously shocked and happy, when Sirius returned to Potter Manor with Draco in tow. However, after hearing what had happened to the other boy, all happiness vanished from his mind.

 _'That's how he came back to life,_ ' he thought, only now fully understanding the scene of Voldemort gathering his followers, which he had witnessed a while ago. Still not absolutely certain to what extent he could trust Draco, he refrained from informing him about his vision though.

"It was supposed to be me," he uttered, averting his eyes to the floor.

"What was supposed to be you?" Sirius asked, incredulously.

"I was supposed to resurrect Voldemort," Harry replied, quietly. "That's why the fake Moody entered me into the tournament. But as I backed out, they took Draco. I'm so sorry, Draco."

Draco shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry, Harry. Nothing of this is your fault."

"Exactly," Sirius agreed. "You couldn't have known what would happen."

"Now tell me," Draco tried to divert the topic, "have you made any progress with the travel imps?"

"No," Harry admitted. "In fact, we've been waiting for you, considering that you said you were able to communicate with them."

"Yes, and we can go and speak with them whenever you want to go. I should know what we want from them though," Draco replied, causing Harry to remember that they still had not discussed the time travel with him.

He quickly informed the boy about their plan, causing Draco to stare at him, wide-eyed.

"You amaze me, Harry. What a brilliant idea," he blurted out in apparent fascination.

 **Amelia**

Due to Draco's information that Voldemort was just summoning his followers and where the event took place, the group of Aurors she had sent to the cemetery had managed to capture round twenty Death Eaters, which were now waiting in ministry holding cells for their upcoming trials.

' _That was a huge success_ ,' she thought, even if she could not help feeling sorry for Draco.

 _'I just wonder if it was safe enough to just put them into Azkaban_ ,' she mused. ' _Now with Voldemort back, he might try to rescue them from the prison. We better have them all kissed if they bear the Dark Mark. Let's see if Cornelius can live with such a decision_.'

She stepped into the minister's office in determination and quickly explained her plan to her boss.

"Amelia, are you sure that it's true what the young Malfoy boy told you? Is he really back?" Cornelius asked in what Amelia supposed was feigned disbelief."

"Of course I'm certain," she huffed. "Not only because of what Draco Malfoy said, but also because my Aurors witnessed the Death Eater meeting and captured two dozen of them."

"Very well then, have them all kissed, so that we can get rid of them forever," the minister decided, much to Amelia's relief. "If they don't have children, the ministry will confiscate their fortune."

During the following three days, twenty-two Death Eaters received trials and were convicted to the Dementors' kiss at Azkaban. Unbeknownst to Amelia, the group of her Aurors responsible to dispose of the Death Eaters decided that the evil wizards and witches were not worth the trouble and just pushed them through the Veil, which was easily accessible in the Ministry building.

 **Harry**

"Hermione and the twins will arrive tomorrow evening," Harry informed Sirius, Remus and Draco, having just received a short note from Hermione through Dobby.

"Shall we visit Fairy Alley and try to find the Imp Cauldron in the morning then?" Draco suggested, and Harry was just about to agree with excitement, when he was pulled into a vision.

 ** _Beginning of vision_**

 _He found himself in a fairly dark stone room, sitting on what seemed to be a throne, facing one of his Death Eaters._

 _"Severus, where are all my trusted followers?" he enquired. "Have they all been captured by now?"_

 _The Potions Master bowed deeply. "No my Lord, I don't think so. Only the twenty-two, who have been captured on the cemetery. However, your most faithful followers like the Lestranges, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott were among them."_

 _"So we'll have to prepare to free them from Azkaban," Voldemort concluded, wondering whom they should include in the raid of the prison._

 _"I'm really sorry, my Lord, but we won't be able to free them," Snape replied, apologetically. "They've all been kissed. Except for Lucius Malfoy," he then added. "I believe that there's a chance that he hasn't been kissed yet, considering that he wasn't captured together with the others."_

 _"What?" the Dark Lord hissed, pointing his wand at the lone Death Eater in front of him who dared bringing him such devastating news. After a few seconds, he released him from the curse, however, not wanting to overly harm the man who by now had to be his most worthy follower. With the words "Leave now Severus. I must make plans" he released the Potions Master._

 _End of vision_

Harry's mind turned back to the reality around him, both hands pressed against his scar in agony as he still felt the aftermath of the Cruciatus curse.

"He just found out that his most trusted followers except for Lucius Malfoy can't be saved anymore," he informed the others, smirking. "He was devastated."

"Oh well, he'll soon enough surround himself with others," Sirius replied, letting out a long sigh. "Please put the memory into the Pensieve later on. We must alert Amelia to the fact that Lucius Malfoy should be kissed as soon as possible."

"Sorry Draco," Harry mumbled, turning to his former classmate.

"That's all right," Draco replied. "My father is evil and doesn't deserve better. The only thing that I feel grateful to him about is that he took me away on time, before the Dark Lord could do as much as force me to take his mark."

"Oh, that's true," Harry agreed, full heartedly. "Thank Merlin."

 **Hermione**

Hermione could not wait to finally be able to travel to Potter Manor. As much as she loved Hogwarts, she missed Harry and also Sirius, Remus, Amelia and the twins. _'It'll be nice to have Draco with us the whole summer,_ ' she thought. ' _It's cool that Sirius invited Mum and Dad to visit us here every weekend. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have allowed me to stay with them another summer. Perhaps we'll even be able to get the matter with the travel imps sorted and manage to travel into the past to save Harry's parents. I wonder if we can go all together,_ ' she mused. _'On the one hand, the fewer people travel the better I suppose though, but if we need the Knight Bus to travel, we can easily go with eight people.'_

The instant she stepped out of the fireplace at Potter Manor, she cornered Draco. "Are you all right? I was so worried, and when Professor Dumbledore…"

"I'm fine, thanks so much for alerting everyone to the problem," Draco interrupted her tirade.

"Thank Merlin, you're all right," Hermione breathed, before she turned to Harry, pulling him into a light hug. "Harry, I missed you so much. I'm so glad that we've holidays and can spend some time together." Before Harry could do as much as reply, she let go of him and stepped over to the adults. "Have you found out anything new for our research?" she enquired, feeling happy and excited at the same time.

"Hermione, calm down," Harry replied, smiling. "Since we can't communicate with the imps, we couldn't do anything before Draco joined us. So we only went to Fairy Alley this morning and found out where the Imp Cauldron is. Oh well, Draco got the information from a leprechaun."

"Oh, that's brilliant," Hermione acknowledged. "So when are we going there to talk to them?"

"Tomorrow morning?" Draco suggested, seeming equally eager to proceed with the matter.

"Yes, we can do that," Sirius agreed, pensively. "The question is if we should go with eight people or seven, considering that Amelia will have to work. Maybe it would suffice if Draco and Harry or I went to talk to them."

"Yeah, that might be better…"

"… as we don't want to frighten them," the twins spoke up.

"Do you really think they'd be frightened, considering how many humans actually travel with the Knight Bus?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"But they don't meet the people," Harry reminded her. "They remain hidden all the time."

Finally, they agreed that only Draco, Harry and Sirius should go to the Imp Cauldron and try to talk the travel imps into taking them into the past.

"Have you already made a plan how to save Harry's parents?" Hermione suddenly remembered to ask. "You can't just take them away or you'd completely change the past. Maybe Harry won't be even alive in the new future if you do such a thing."

Sirius chuckled. "Believe me, Hermione, we've got everything planned out. Oh well, at least I hope that it's going to work out."

 _'Why do I feel nervous knowing that it's Sirius plan, which we're going to pull through with?'_ Hermione thought in concern. _'He's not more trustworthy than the twins. Oh well, I just hope he discussed it with Remus and Amelia_.'

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind comments on the previous chapters! Please let me know what you think of this story / this chapter. Have a good week, and I'll see you next weekend :)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Draco**

Fortunately, the following day was a Sunday, and early in the morning, Harry, Draco and Sirius made their way to the Imp Cauldron to speak with the travel imps.

The travel imps were tiny, completely green – a very bright neon green – and several dozens of them were running around, playing, while some of them were sitting down at a small table eating. It was utter chaos.

When the three humans showed themselves, everything became strangely quiet, and the travel imps stared at them in apparent fear.

"Don't worry, we're not going to do anything to you," Draco quickly assured them. "We're friends, and we came to ask you a favour."

One of the travel imps courageously stepped forward.

"What favour?" it asked with apparent curiosity.

"We'd like to ask you to take us thirteen years into the past," Draco replied, straightforward, unsure how to sugar-coat the fact.

"How many weeks are that?" the travel imp all but snarled.

Draco hesitantly looked at Sirius. "How many weeks do we need to go back in time?" he explained to the older wizard, who, to his utter surprise, pulled a small parchment out of his robe pocket.

"It's 13 years, 7 months and 4 days, which is 163 months and four days or seven hundred and nine weeks and one day, so let's say seven hundred and ten weeks," he informed him.

"Seven hundred and ten weeks," Draco translated for the travel imp.

"You want us to take you back in time so many weeks," the small being repeated, incredulously.

"Yes please," Draco confirmed.

"We can do that," the travel imp replied, pensively. "How are you going to pay us though?"

Draco shrugged, helplessly. "How can we pay you?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow.

The travel imp excused himself for a moment, before he turned to the group of travel imps standing behind him.

"What do we want as payment?" he enquired.

At that point, the travel imps, who so far had been extremely quiet, began to speak, shout and ask at the same time. Draco could only understand bits and pieces, which strangely sounded like "Honeydukes chocolate", "liquorice wands" and "sugar quills". It was almost funny.

Finally, the travel imp, who had been talking to Draco the whole time, said, "We'd like to have two dozen bottles of butterbeer please."

"All right, that shouldn't be a problem," Draco conceded and agreed with the imp that they should return exactly a week later with the butterbeer, and that the travel imps would take them seven hundred and nine weeks into the past then.

"We also need to come back to this time about a week or two later," Draco suddenly recalled to inform the travel imp, who nodded in understanding.

"We shall speak to our past selves when we arrive," he promised, making Draco sigh in relief. He profusely thanked the travel imp, before he took his leave, dragging Harry and Sirius out of the Imp Cauldron.

"The butterbeer is not a problem," Sirius said, after Draco had told him and Harry everything about his conversation with the travel imp. "We should buy some chocolate and sugar quills as well though, because the travel imps in the past will want some payment as well, and I really don't want to travel to Hogsmeade during our stay in the past."

"Why don't the travel imps just stay in the past with us?" Harry asked in apparent disbelief. "They'll arrive back here at the same time anyway, so that no one will miss them, just like us."

"That's true," Draco conceded and Sirius agreed. Nevertheless, they decided to send the twins to Hogsmeade later the same day – not only to buy butterbeer but also some sweets as well.

 **Harry**

 _'I can't believe that I'm going to meet my parents in a week's time,'_ Harry thought, feeling extremely excited at the prospect.

Later the same day, they began to make preparations for their time travel. The first question was who would be going to go, which they discussed during dinner.

"Well, I won't be able to accompany you, because if I remember correctly, the full moon was just on the day before Halloween," Remus spoke up in apparent disappointment.

"I'd like Amelia to accompany me in any case, since the Potters know her. They probably wouldn't really believe me if I told them that I'd come from the future to save them," Sirius added, causing Harry to snort.

 _'I'm certain of that,'_ he thought, looking at his godfather in amusement.

"Before we can decide who is the best to go, well, apart from Amelia and Sirius of course, we need to know what your plans are. How are we going to save Lily and James Potter?" Hermione asked in a no-nonsense voice.

 _'Good question. Leave it to Hermione to ask it,'_ Harry thought, giving the witch an approving look, to which she replied with a shrug.

"Okay, I'll tell you that," Sirius agreed and, for once not smirking as he talked, explained how he intended to capture two Death Eaters and put them under the Imperius curse to act like Lily and James Potter.

"I could help with that," Draco suggested, seemingly hesitant.

"That's not good," Hermione said, apparently horrified.

"Sirius," Amelia spoke up, frowning. "I don't think that's a good plan. I've got a better idea."

When everyone looked at Amelia in clear expectation, she suggested, "We make exact copies of Lily and James and send them to the house. They'll automatically act like the real Lily and James and love Harry enough to keep him as safe as they can."

Everyone seemed to prefer that suggestion, and Harry sighed in relief. _'I wouldn't want my younger self have to rely on two Death Eaters under the Imperius to keep him safe,_ ' he thought, inwardly shaking his head at his godfather, who really seemed irresponsible, even if his intentions were the best.

"Draco should come in any case, because we need his capabilities of communicating with the travel imps," Sirius stated, matter-of-factly.

"Hermione, would you like to come?" Amelia asked, kindly.

"I'd love that," Hermione admitted. "But is there anything for me to do?"

"I'm going to teach you how to make the copies," Amelia suggested. "Considering that you're said to be the brightest witch of the year, which must say something, because my niece isn't exactly stupid, and that we still have a week's time to prepare, I can teach you how to make the copies in case something happens to me."

Finally, they decided that apart from Sirius and Amelia, Harry, Hermione and Draco should travel to the past.

The twins seemed to be a tad disappointed, however, acknowledged that they could not travel with too many people whom the Potters didn't know.

"We're going to stay at Potter Manor the whole time, but please don't forget that it still belongs to Harry's grandparents at that time," Sirius reminded them.

"We should be back just about an hour after we leave in any case, so you won't have to wait and worry for long," Hermione informed the twins, smirking, before she turned to Harry. "Don't forget to take a look at the master bedroom to see if everything is all right for your parents to come and live in it, before we leave for the past."

"Yes, I'll do that," Harry agreed, thinking to himself, "Maybe I'll go there together with Gina."

"Harry, don't forget to visit Buckbean and have him take the Kakurembo charm off you; otherwise, your parents won't be able to see you," Remus advised him.

"Oh Merlin, I completely forgot about that," Harry breathed. "I'll go there first thing tomorrow morning."

 **Hermione**

On Sunday morning, the twins accompanied them to the Imp Cauldron, providing the travel imps with butterbeer, sugar quills and Honeydukes' finest chocolate bars.

"Draco, please tell them to only consume the butterbeer after our arrival in the past," Hermione instructed her classmate in a firm voice.

 _'I wonder how they're going to get into the bus in any case,_ ' she thought, as she took a good look at the Knight Bus that was waiting on its parking spot at the far side of the Imp Cauldron. There did not seem to be any kind of opening connecting to the wheels. However, she was going to be disappointed, as the travel imps just seemed to apparate into their work spots.

She was shaken out of her thoughts, when Sirius suggested, "Well, let's get onto the bus."

"This will take some time," Draco told them what the travel imps had informed him about. "They need to make about seven hundred large jumps, as they can only go back one week in one jump. So please let's make ourselves as comfortable as possible."

 _'Oh Merlin,_ ' Hermione inwardly groaned. _'The Knight Bus was uncomfortable just travelling from home to Hogwarts. Sirius was right and we shouldn't have eaten before coming here. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be hungry all day. Who knows how long this travel is going to take,'_ she mused.

"Don't worry; I've told them to keep their impishness at bay," Draco said in a soothing voice, apparently having noticed her concern. "I hope it won't be too bad."

In fact, it was not too bad, even if the travel seemed to take ages. While they at first had chosen to lie on a bed each, they noticed soon that the travel imps were making very smooth jumps and gathered on Hermione's bed sitting next to each other.

About two hours after they had left, the bus came to a halt – almost at the same spot, where they had departed earlier, right next to another Knight Bus.

Sensing that the travel imps had to explain their presence to the other imps first, the group of five waited with Draco standing in the door until the head of the travel imps group, who had been communicating with Draco before, told him that it was all right to get off.

"They'll be waiting for us to return here next Sunday morning," Draco translated for the others.

 _'Well, by then we'll know if our plan worked out, and if not, maybe they can take us back another week, so that we can try again. In any case, we need to keep Draco safe, as we need him to tell the travel imps where to go_ ,' she thought, smirking at the idea of making it her first priority to keep a Slytherin safe.

 **Sirius**

' _Just a few minutes, and I'm going to see Prongs again,_ ' Sirius thought, having to try hard to not shout his happiness out for the whole world to hear. "Let's go," he said instead, ushering the others towards Potter Manor.

"Sirius," Harry suddenly spoke up, "wouldn't it be better if you went ahead just by yourself? I mean, my grandparents don't know any of us, plus they have to adjust the wards to let us through, don't they?"

"Oh, that's right," Sirius acknowledged, pensively. "Perhaps it's better if you stay right here at Fairy Alley, and I come and collect you as soon as I've spoken with the Potters."

"They know me too though, but you're right, and I'll stay with the others," Amelia spoke up, quietly.

Not wanting to lose any time, Sirius apparated straight into the garden of Potter Manor.

Within seconds, Gina stood in front of him. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded, strictly.

' _Oh no, I should have brought Amelia_ ,' he thought, inwardly groaning. "Hey Gina, it's me, Sirius," he informed the head elf. "I come from thirteen years into the future. Will you please let me in so I can talk to the Potters?"

"Little Master Sirius coming from the future?" Gina queried, giving him a doubtful look. "Oh well, considering that the wards let you in, Gina believes you. Come with me," she then said and led him into the parlour.

"Master and Mistress Potter, this is little Master Sirius coming from the future," Gina introduced him, causing Sirius to cast her a grateful look and the Potters to stare at him with open suspicion.

"It's true. I'm a time traveller," Sirius admitted and informed them that he had come to save Lily and James from Voldemort.

"Can you show us a memory as proof of what happened?" Mr. Potter demanded, apparently still not really convinced that Sirius was who he seemed to be.

"Yes, but first of all, I need you to allow my friends into the wards," Sirius replied. "Perhaps you could ask me something that no one else can know to prove my identity?"

"Where did I take you and James on the day we took you in, when your parents kicked you out?" Mr. Potter asked straight away, causing Sirius to grin.

"To the Quidditch world cup, in which Ireland bet England by one single point," he replied, making the two elder people let out sighs of relief.

"Sirius, it's really you," Mrs. Potter said, enthusiastically, before she stepped over to him, pulling him into a bear's hug.

"Now, who did you bring with you, and where are they?" her husband enquired.

"And how did you manage to time travel of all things?" Mrs. Potter wanted to know.

"I'll tell you everything in a bit," Sirius replied in the direction of to his surrogate mother before turning to her husband. "I'm here together with Amelia Bones, your grandson Harry as well as Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Both of them are friends of Harry's from Hogwarts," he informed Mr. Potter, who cast him an incredulous look.

"Harry is with you?" Mrs. Potter let out a small squeal of joy. "How old is he now?"

"Fourteen, but he's going to be fifteen in July. He already took his OWLs last week," Sirius supplied, when Mr. Potter interrupted him.

"How can my grandson be friends with a Malfoy?" he asked, sternly.

"Draco is nothing like Lucius. He had a big fight with his father due to his loyalties being different, so we took him in at Potter Manor, where we're living in our time. He's very nice, and he's able to speak with all kind of fairies, and we needed him to join us, because he can communicate with the travel imps who drive the Knight Bus."

"You came to the past with the Knight Bus?" Mr. Potter asked, apparently not believing a single world. "Do you really expect me to believe you?"

"Yes, the Knight Bus is driven by travel imps, and they were able to take the bus into the past," Sirius hurried to explain. "In fact, Buckbean at Gringotts gave us the hint to check out the Knight Bus. Apparently, the goblins know that time travel by Knight Bus is possible."

"And why… Oh well, that can wait then," Mr. Potter interrupted himself and left the room, only to return a couple of minutes later, stating that he had adjusted the wards to let Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy in. "Amelia and Harry are able to come into the Manor anyway," he informed Sirius.

"May I ask Gina to fetch the others?" Sirius asked, politely, understanding that it was different from the future, where he as Harry's godfather was accepted as the Master of the Manor.

The Potters agreed and asked Gina and another elf to go to Fairy Alley and collect Harry and his friends. When the elves popped away, Mrs. Potter headed to the fireplace to call Lily and James.

 _tbc..._

 _Well, an early chapter this week due to today being Good Friday. Thank you so much for your kind reviews on the previous chapter. Please tell me what you think of this chapter or if you have any requests for this story. What pairings would you like for this story? Harry and Hermione? Draco and Hermione? Should I involve Luna, Susan or Ginny for a second pairing? Well, I hope to be able to update again on Sunday or Monday if my muse plays along. Have a very happy Easter!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 _Due to your kind feedback, my muse decided to give you another chapter tonight. So if you have not read yesterday's chapter (chapter 12), please go back and read that first. Enjoy :-)_

* * *

 **Harry**

"What's taking Sirius so long?" Harry asked in concern. "I hope they won't attack him if they don't believe him who he is."

Amelia let out a long sigh. "And Sirius isn't very believable per se," she groaned. "I should have gone with him."

"Or me, but it's too late now anyway," Harry replied, wondering what to do if Sirius would not come back.

"Perhaps the two of you should go and try to explain the matter," Draco spoke up, and Amelia and Harry had just nodded their agreement, when Gina and another house-elf, whom they knew from Potter Manor, popped up in front of them.

"We is to take yous to Potter Manor," Gina addressed them, casting Harry a curious look.

"Hi Gina," Harry greeted the elf. "Thank you so much for coming to fetch us."

HP

An instant later, they found themselves standing in the well-known entrance hall of Potter Manor. _'Home,'_ Harry thought, instantly, before recalling that this was not his home but that of his grandparents. He stared at the far-off wall in shock, when the fireplace flared and a red-headed woman stepped out, followed by a man who looked the spitting image of himself and was carrying a baby.

"That's you, Harry," Hermione blurted out, smiling in apparent amazement.

Only now realisation set in, and Harry hurried to greet his parents. "Mum, Dad," he spoke up, smiling broadly.

"Who are you?" James enquired, giving him a sharp look.

"I'm Harry, your son," Harry replied and explained that they had just arrived from thirteen years into the future.

"That's not possible," James said in a firm voice, pulling his wand.

"Sirius is with us," Harry quickly informed his father. "He went ahead to ask your parents to adjust the wards to let us in, while we were waiting at Fairy Alley. Gina only just brought us here."

"James," Lily spoke up, "I don't know why, but somehow, I know that it's Harry. I can feel his magic. It's a bit different but still similar to Baby Harry's."

"Do you have any proof?" James enquired.

Harry let out a snort. "Why don't you ask Sirius something which only he can know… Dad? Or does it suffice if I tell you that you won the Quidditch Cup in your fifth year, how to activate the Marauders' Map or that Peter, the traitor, is your Secret Keeper?"

"Peter, the traitor?" James repeated, sharply. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Harry continued to speak, "that he's going to sell you out to Voldemort and that he'll come and kill the two of you on Halloween."

"James, I believe him," Lily spoke up in clear irritation. "Do you remember the dream I told you about?"

"In fact, we came to the past to save you and take the two of you with us to the future," Amelia spoke up, causing the Potters to turn to her.

"Amelia?" Lily asked, her eyes widening in apparent surprise.

"Yes, it's me," Amelia replied, smiling.

"Sorry for not introducing anyone," Harry only now remembered. "These are Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, my friends and former classmates at Hogwarts. We all came to rescue you, as Amelia said."

"Draco Malfoy?" James enquired, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, but he's very different from his father, and he's a good friend of mine," Harry said in a firm voice that did not allow any contradiction.

"Well, let's go inside and talk," Lily suggested, making James lead the way.

"Excuse me," Hermione spoke up, turning to Lily. "May I please hold Harry for a moment? He's so cute."

"Of course," Lily replied in a soft voice, gently handing the baby to the girl, before they followed the others into the parlour, where Sirius and the Potters were conducting a lively conversation.

"Oh Merlin, he's so sweet," Hermione whispered happily, as she cradled Baby Harry close.

 **Lily**

Since Sirius and Amelia could answer all questions James and his parents asked, everyone finally believed that the time-travellers were who they claimed to be. _'As if a mother wouldn't know her own baby,'_ Lily thought, ' _even if he's suddenly aged up to a teenager. His magical signature seems a bit different from before though._ '

Baby Harry was sitting on Hermione's lap, completely relaxed. _'She seems a nice girl_ ,' she thought, wondering if she was Harry's girlfriend, before she turned her attention back to the conversation.

Amelia and Sirius took over the explanations concerning the events that were going to take place during the next couple of days.

When he came to the point where Peter had given them out to Voldemort, James jumped up from his seat. "I'm going to kill him," he announced, ready to leave the room.

"No!" Lily shouted together with all five time-travellers. "Don't go, Dad. You mustn't change history," Harry said in a firm voice, making James sit down again for the time being.

"Exactly Prongs, listen to your son," Sirius agreed, before he continued with his explanations.

By the time Lily learned that Harry had been taken to the Dursleys', she was horrified.

"But why would Dumbledore do such a thing?" she asked in disbelief. "We've written our will and left it with Buckbean at Gringotts. Harry should have gone to Sirius, Alice, Amelia or Remus, but not to Petunia and her horrible husband. Even Minerva could have taken him in, not to speak of his grandparents."

"Well, Dumbledore knew of the will but completely ignored it," Amelia explained. "Sirius wasn't available, but Remus or I would have gladly taken Harry in."

"Why was Sirius unavailable?" James enquired, frowning. Hearing the story of Sirius' stay in Azkaban, he looked ready to kill once again.

Lily could not help staring at her son. ' _He's so big_ ,' she mused, _'almost grown up. But he must've had a horrible childhood. I feel so sorry for him._ '

Questions and answers continued for hours and even went on in the dining room, when it was time for dinner. Lily and Hermione had long put Baby Harry to bed, when the topic changed to the time-travellers' plan for the near future.

"You're going to take James and me with us, and I'm supposed to abandon my baby?" Lily asked, terrified at the idea.

"That's the plan," Sirius admitted and patiently explained, why it was adamant for Baby Harry to remain, get rid of Voldemort and grow up like he had. "We can't change the future. Look at Harry. He turned out well, didn't he?"

"I'm surprised that he became such a lovely young man in spite of growing up with my horrible sister," Lily admitted, hesitantly. Turning to Harry, she asked, "Harry, do you agree with Sirius' plan? Is it really all right to leave Baby Harry with copies of your father and me?"

Harry smiled. "Yes Mum," he confirmed. "I can understand that it's extremely hard, but it's absolutely necessary."

"We should at least tell Remus that Peter is the traitor," James spoke up, provoking a collective groan from the time-travellers.

"Dad, you mustn't do anything," Harry said in a firm voice. "Maybe the two of you, oh sorry, the three of you should stay here with us until we have to send the copies there on Saturday morning."

"I believe that would be the best," his grandmother agreed with the boy. "Harry, if you allow me one question, what happened to my husband and me? Why didn't they leave you with us?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry, Grandmother, I don't know what happened to you and when, but you probably were not available. I've never met you before," he replied, gravely.

"I believe that you ventured into Diagon Alley just a day or two before Lily and James died," Amelia added. "You better stay at home during the next week."

"Would you perhaps be willing to accompany us to the future?" Harry suddenly asked. "We'd love to have you there as well. I don't know if it's safer than now, because Voldemort is alive again in our time, but we could all work together to bring him down."

To Lily's relief, her parents-in-law agreed, and everyone turned in for the night, agreeing that they still had five days to set their plan into motion.

 **Hermione**

Hermione was completely amazed at how cute Baby Harry was. She was also happy for her best friend to get to know his parents and grandparents for the first time in his life. Understandably, he seemed absolutely delighted and was more relaxed than she had ever seen him in spite of the dangerous situation that lay ahead of them.

They spent the following days mostly talking, about their lives, the war, the second war and Voldemort. They even held a few-hour discussion pro and contra saving Alice and Frank Longbottom with the final result that they could not save them without changing the future, and since everyone agreed to not make any changes to the future, they dismissed the idea with heavy hearts.

On Thursday morning, the tension was so high that Amelia took the matter into her own hands and, making sure that the real Lily and James were going to remain in their room in the manor, made copies of them. She immediately ushered them out of the room, while Hermione, Draco and Harry made sure that they did not see their other selves. Leading the dummies into the parlour, they observed their behaviour with and without little Harry, and everything seemed absolutely perfect.

When the couple vanished from the sight shortly before dinner time, everyone looked around in shock, however, Amelia reassured them that everything was all right and that she had charmed the copies to only last eight hours.

' _That was amazing,'_ Hermione thought, eyeing Amelia in admiration. The older witch had taught her how to make the copies just in case; however, it was beyond her imagination that it was possible to add a time charm.

"So, now we know that we won't have a problem conjuring these copies on Saturday morning," Amelia said, and everyone agreed and decided to have a Quidditch tournament on Friday.

Lily and James, however, preferred to head home in order to pack some important items, which they wanted to take with them to the future.

"You're certain that it happened on Halloween, right?" James enquired, when they readied themselves to step into the fireplace.

"I'm absolutely sure," Hermione said, calmly, gently accepting Baby Harry from Lily.

"We'll be back at dinner time at the latest," Lily promised before she followed her husband through the Floo.

' _I just hope they'll be all right,'_ Hermione mused, as she took Baby Harry into the parlour, knowing that his grandparents would be happy to have him around. _'I'll be glad when we're safely back in our time together with Lily and James and the Potters.'_

"Hermione dear, are you sure that we wouldn't be in the way if we travelled with you?" Mrs. Potter enquired, giving her a sharp look, and before Hermione could react, she continued, "I know that our grandson is a very fine young man, and he'd probably invite us even if he wasn't really comfortable with it. So please tell me the truth, as we don't want to become a burden to anyone."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "Mrs. Potter, you will never be a burden to anyone, let alone to Harry. I've known him for four years now, and all that he ever wanted was his family. He couldn't be happier having the two of you as well as his parents with him."

"Well, in that case, I believe that we have some packing to do," Euphemia Potter said, pleasantly. "Come Fleamont."

 **Harry**

Harry thoroughly enjoyed the week together with his parents and grandparents. Too soon for his liking, however, Saturday morning arrived, and when Lily's and James' copies left together with Baby Harry, he could not help worry if his younger self would be all right.

' _Well, we haven't changed anything,'_ he told himself. _'The only difference is that there will be copies of Mum and Dad with little Harry and not their real selves, but if even Harry doesn't know the difference, no one will be able to tell. So it should be all right.'_

"I'm going to spend the evening in Little Whinging observing the Dursley residence in my Animagus form," Sirius promised. "I'll make sure that Baby Harry is taken there and nothing is different from our timeline."

"Thanks Sirius," Harry said, gratefully, pushing all ideas about a possible better future for Sirius without Azkaban from his mind.

Sirius left early in the evening, and from that time onward, everyone eagerly awaited his return. _'Oh Merlin, time passes slower than in a History of Magic class,_ ' Harry thought, when the time display that his mother had projected to the wall showed that it was only shortly after eight in the evening.

All of a sudden, his scar that had been prickling for a while, hurt fiercely, before the pain completely vanished.

"I think it's over," he muttered, causing everyone to turn to him, questioningly.

"My scar hurt, but now it completely stopped. Voldemort should be gone _'and Baby Harry has a scar'_ ," he added, sighing.

It still took two and a half hours, before Sirius returned with the news that Baby Harry had been taken to the Durselys'.

"Yay, future we're coming," James said, pleasantly, gently pulling Lily close.

' _Poor Mum,'_ Harry thought, noticing that his mother was teary-eyed.

"Hey Mum, you have a big boy now. I know it's a bit sudden, but still…"

"I know, Harry, I know," Lily sobbed. "Thank you so much for saving our lives dear. We appreciate it very much, even if the whole story is so sad."

"It definitely is worse for Harry than for us," James commented, "but that's all in the past. Look, he's all grown up and did so well in spite of the circumstances. Tomorrow morning, we're going to leave this all behind us."

' _Only to be thrown into the next war,'_ Harry thought, however, knew better than to voice it. _'We can deal with the future once we're back,'_ he decided.

 **Remus**

When the five time-travellers left, Remus and the twins decided to have breakfast, knowing that the others should be back within an hour. _'Oh well, maybe two hours considering that it takes about fifteen minutes to walk up to the Imp Cauldron,'_ he mused, before he allowed his thoughts to wander into the past.

However, five hours later, the time-travellers had not returned yet, and Remus slowly became worried.

"I wonder what's keeping them," he voiced his concern, causing the twins to exchange helpless looks.

"Who knows…"

"… what can go wrong…"

"… while time-travelling," they supplied, helpfully, causing Remus to groan in exasperation.

' _Especially with someone irresponsible like Sirius in the middle of the planning,'_ he thought, letting out a deep sigh.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you all so much for your kind feedback and your comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank my Facebook friends for their invaluable help with this story. Please be so kind and continue feeding my muse. See you soon - Happy Easter!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **James**

Sirius had told him that they had to be at Fairy Alley at six o'clock in the morning at the latest. He cast a tempus charm, seeing that it was only four. _'Oh well, that gives me the time to go and get a quick glimpse at our old home,'_ he thought and headed outside to apparate to Godric's Hollow, knowing that his father had closed off the fireplace now that his parents had decided to accompany them to the future.

An instant later, he stood in front of a ruin. _'Oh Merlin, it's true. It really happened just like Sirius told us. If he and the others hadn't come from the future, Lily and I'd be dead now._ ' Only now, he could really grasp the situation. Only now, he could really understand. _'It's a different matter to hear someone explain something to me or to see it with my own eyes,_ ' he thought, horrified. He apparated back to the manor, feeling incredibly grateful to his best friend and his already fourteen-year-old son, who was much too grown up for his age. _'At least much less childish than Sirius and I were at that age,_ ' he thought, as he made his way back into their bedroom, intending to make up to his wife, knowing that she was suffering most from the loss of their baby son.

"Harry's a brilliant child, Lils, and I promise that we'll work on having another baby soon," he whispered, smiling when his wife turned around to face him with a small smile playing on her lips.

"I'd like that," she whispered back, allowing him to pull her into a passionate kiss.

"I'm afraid that we don't have much time now," James informed her, as he slowly pulled away, very much regretting the fact. "We need to get ready for our time-travel."

 **Draco**

Draco was happy that the Potters of all generations had simply accepted him as Harry's friend and had not harassed him because of being a Malfoy. During the week of their stay in the past, he had felt as comfortable at Potter Manor as he had felt in the future. _'Thank Merlin,_ ' he thought. _'It's almost as if I had a completely new family, and Harry's parents and grandparents are really nice. I wonder who will be the boss in the future. So far, it was Sirius, but now that the grandparents join us, it might be them just like here in this time.'_

He was so deep in thoughts that he only realised that they had arrived at Fairy Alley, when they were standing right in front of the Imp Cauldron.

As soon as he showed himself, the travel imp, who had done all the talking with him, appeared in front of him.

"Hello," he said, chuckling. "We'll be ready to leave shortly."

"Thank you, that would be nice. Since we came back in time seven hundred and ten weeks, we now need to go back to the future seven hundred and nine weeks to arrive just when we left," Draco replied, frowning. _'Something's not right here,'_ he thought, observing the travel imps that seemed to belong to their group.

"I'm not sure but is it possible that they're a bit drunk?" he asked, glancing at Harry, who was standing between his parents looking at him in clear expectation.

Before anyone could offer a response, however, they were called towards the Knight Bus and eagerly climbed up, gathering on the first two beds.

"It'll take about two hours, but they drive really carefully," Draco informed their new time-travellers, only to reach for something to hold on to, when the bus made an unexpected huge jump.

"Oh well, they did, when we came here," Sirius added, smirking.

 **Hermione**

 _'Somehow, this doesn't feel right,'_ Hermione thought in confusion. During their travel to the past, the bus had merely been jumping back in time but did not change the place. Whenever she had looked out of the window, they had been in front of the Imp Cauldron. This time, however, the scenery changed after each jump. Moreover, the jumps were much rougher, and in the meantime, everyone had decided that it might be safer for them to lie on a bed. _'We should be there soon though,_ ' she thought, wondering why the way back was so different.

Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind. _'Oh Merlin, I hope they're not really drunk like Draco said earlier. Who knows where they'd take us if they were.'_

Due to the lack of sleep during the previous night, she could not help drifting off to sleep like several members of their group. She only woke up, when the bus came to a sudden halt.

"Where are we?" she heard Sirius ask and hurriedly sat up to look through the window.

"Hogwarts," she blurted out, realising that the Knight Bus had stopped right in front of where the gates were supposed to be.

She hurriedly climbed out of the bus, followed by everyone else.

Draco immediately talked to the travel imp who did the speaking, before he translated for them. "They are drunk and sleepy and want to remain here for a while to take a rest. They couldn't find the Imp Cauldron, so they took us to Hogwarts, which is obvious, but they don't know the year. So I've told them that we'd check that out and be back sometime during the day if it's not the proper date. We can always sleep in the bus until they're ready."

From the corners of her eyes, Hermione saw how the travel imps climbed onto the bus making themselves comfortable on the passenger beds that seemed overly large for the small creatures.

"Well, let's check out Hogwarts then. It can't be so bad," James decided, and everyone agreed.

 _'It can't be so bad?'_ Hermione silently repeated in disbelief. ' _Voldemort and his Death Eaters could have taken Hogwarts over for all that I know.'_ However, she did not voice her concern and slowly trailed behind the others towards the castle, smiling, when Amelia fell into step with her.

Suddenly, a sharp voice from behind made them stop in their tracks. "Who are you, and what do you want here?"

Hermione turned around, completely shocked when realisation set in. She knew the man, who seemed about the age of Lily and James from many paintings and books. "Professor Slytherin," she spoke up, causing everyone else to gasp.

"That I am," the man replied, still sounding grumpy. "And who are you?"

This time, James was the first to reply. "We're time travellers from the future. We didn't intend to come here, but the travel imps apparently took us nine hundred years into the past instead of seven hundred weeks into the future," he explained in a gentle voice. "Will you allow us access to Hogwarts? I'm certain that each of us is very eager to speak with you and the other founders."

"So you know about us," Slytherin stated.

"Of course, sir," Hermione replied, eagerly. "You're said to be the best Potions Masters of all times, sir."

Slytherin smirked. "Well then come in and meet my colleagues."

 _'Thank Merlin, he sounds less grumpy now,_ ' Hermione thought, as they entered Hogwarts, which looked the same as in their own time with only the many portraits missing from the walls.

 **Harry**

Harry trailed into the Great Hall behind the others, absolutely not feeling in the mood of spending a day in the time of the Founders of Hogwarts. Usually, he would have been thrilled about such an opportunity; however, right now, he wanted nothing more than to return to his own time and get his parents and grandparents settled.

He absentmindedly listened, when the Founders and the time-travellers introduced each other, before Sirius told the Founders everything about the fateful Halloween in 1981, about Remus, the werewolf, and Peter, his so-called friend, who had betrayed Lily and James. Finally, he informed them about their time travel to prevent his best friend and his wife from being killed.

At one stage, Salazar interrupted him in apparent disbelief. "A werewolf?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow. "Why don't you heal him from lycanthropy?"

"Heal him?" Lily blurted out. "Do you have a cure for lycanthropy in this time?"

"Of course," Salazar informed her, smirking. "I'm sure, because I invented it myself."

His mother looked as if Christmas had come early, when she asked the Founder, "Would you perhaps be willing to teach me? Your cure has been lost over the centuries, and many Potions masters have tried to invent one without success."

"Are you able to brew difficult potions?" Salazar asked, strictly.

"My wife is a Potions mistress," James spoke up in a firm voice. "If anyone will be able to brew it, it's her."

When Salazar left the Great Hall with Lily in tow, a girl, who introduced herself as Ceridwen Hufflepuff, suggested to Harry, Hermione and Draco, "Shall I show you some secret places of Hogwarts?"

"I'd love that," Hermione was the first to respond, and the three time-travellers followed the girl out of the Great Hall, where the others changed the topic to the time of the Founders.

Ceridwen knew the castle better than anyone else, because she had assisted the Founders building bits and parts of Hogwarts. She showed them several secret passages and all kinds of shortcuts.

"If you use this shortcut here, it'll never take more than five minutes to go from one part of the castle to any other," she explained, showing them a small room, which was completely void of furniture. It was a simple stone room that held six doors, however, one leading to the headmaster's office, one to the entrance hall and each of the others leading to one particular house.

Much too soon for Harry's liking, Ceridwen informed him that it was dinner time and that they had to return to the Great Hall.

 **James**

For a while, James had listened to the conversation mostly led by Helga, Rowena and Amelia, before Godric suddenly addressed him and asked him to join him in his office.

James followed the Founder, whom he knew to be his many times great grandfather, through the empty castle. "Don't you have any students here right now?" he enquired, causing Godric to chuckle.

"Usually yes, but today is Christmas Day, so all students have returned to their homes," he explained, before he asked, "Does Hogwarts still look like this in the future?"

"Yes, it's exactly the same," James confirmed. "The only thing is that the walls are mostly covered with portraits of people, who have been at Hogwarts at one or the other time. The headmaster's office is the same, too. All the former headmasters' portraits are hanging behind the headmaster's desk. Most of the time, they seem to be sleeping though," he added, grinning.

"In fact," Godric began to speak once they were sitting at his desk, "I'm really glad that you came. You probably know that Rowena is my wife, and that Salazar is married to Helga."

James stared at the Founder in surprise. "No sir, I didn't know that," he admitted in a small voice.

Godric smiled. "Well, as things are, you're the heir of Rowena and myself."

James nodded, knowing that he was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor.

"Your wife Lily is in fact the heir of Helga and Salazar," Godric continued, causing James to stare at the Founder, wide-eyed. "That makes your son Harry the first heir of all four of us. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," James replied, nodding. "My children will be descendants of all four Founders. That's a huge honour. It's a very sudden revelation though."

Godric chuckled. "That's all right. Apparently, you couldn't know that bit of information. Anyway, I'd like to officially announce my will stating that Hogwarts will belong to Harry Potter from the year when he takes his NEWTs, if you still have them in the future, onwards. He should, of course, take over the headmaster's position at that time."

James shook his head in confusion. "Thank you Godric, I'm sure Harry will be thrilled to hear that. I'm afraid that we must ask him about the year though. As you know, my wife and I have never been to the time in the future, where he comes from."

"I'll ask him at dinner time; that's fine," Godric decided. "There's another point that I'd like to ask of your son."

James looked at the Founder with apprehension.

"Seeing that time travel is possible, I'd like your son to come here from time to time to study with us. You might not know this either, but my wife is a Seer, and she has seen that Harry will have a difficult time fighting against the evil in his time. We'd like to prepare him for that. Are you as his father all right with him travelling to our time every now and then?"

"If that's what Harry wants, I don't mind," James replied, knowing that under no circumstances he could refuse his ancestor.

 **Hermione**

Right on time for dinner, Lily returned to the Great Hall, showing a small phial with a light brown liquid.

"Salazar taught me to brew the wolvescure, and he even gave me the recipe. We can cure the werewolves," she said, seeming very happy.

"Are the ingredients all available in our time?" Euphemia Potter enquired with apparent interest.

"Yes," Lily confirmed, smiling.

"Mrs. Potter," Hermione spoke up, eagerly, "would you mind teaching me how to brew it? Maybe I could assist if you need to brew many batches."

"Of course, but you can just call me Lily," the red-haired witch replied, gently.

Hermione looked up in surprise, when as soon as dinner ended, Professor Slytherin motioned Harry to follow him. "Since I heard that you're a Parselmouth, I'm going to take you to the Chamber of Secrets," the Founder informed him, ushering the boy out of the Great Hall, much to Hermione's horror.

 _tbc..._


	15. Chapter 15

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

By the time the Founders and Ceridwen escorted the time-travellers back to the Knight Bus, Harry felt utterly confused. Not only had Salazar entrusted him with his diary and the first five volumes of his Potions recipes, which were all written in Parselscript, but Godric had issued a decree, which stated that from the year 1997 onwards, Harry would be the rightful owner of Hogwarts. He fingered for the copy, which he had stacked away into his robe pocket together with Salazar's books. The Founders had also demanded that he as the first heir of all four Founders had to return to their time and study with them as soon and as often as possible. They had also instructed him to find their quarters at Hogwarts in his time and get acquainted to them. Last not least, Ceridwen had pulled Hermione, Draco and him into bear's hugs, telling them that she would be waiting for them to come back soon.

 _'What a strange day,'_ he mused, although he could not deny that he had thoroughly enjoyed himself. _'I'll ask Draco if he's willing to speak with the travel imps on my behalf,'_ he decided _. 'It would be great if I could come here for a few weeks every year.'_

HP

To everyone's relief, the travel imps were sobered and ready to take them back to their own time. This time, the travel was smooth, and like everyone else, Harry slept through the night, exhausted from the unexpected events of the previous day.

He only woke up, when Amelia announced, "It's the day after we left for the past, but at least we're back in our time."

Together with everyone else, Harry left the bus, waited while Draco profusely thanked the travel imps, and then the whole group walked home to Potter Manor. While the adults could have apparated everyone, they decided that they were in dire need of some exercise after the long travel. Harry quickly scribbled the address onto a small parchment and showed it to his parents and grandparents.

"Oh right, that was the address," his grandfather blurted out. "I wasn't able to remember it for a moment."

"That's because I'm the Secret Keeper now," Harry informed him, grinning.

When they passed the Stretched Harp on their way through Fairy Alley, Harry's view fell onto the headline of the Daily Prophet that shouted in large, red letters.

' _The Knight Bus gone!  
For the first time in history, the Knight Bus completely vanishes'_

 _'Oh Merlin, so much about doing a little excursion in secret,_ ' Harry thought, feeling horrified and amused at the same time.

 **Remus**

On Monday morning, Remus and the twins read the Daily Prophet in horror. The first three pages were full of stories about the Knight Bus as well as speculations about what might have happened to it to completely vanish from the sight.

"Now I thought to get back two of my best friends, only to lose my other best friends," Remus blurted out, tears welling in his eyes.

"It's all right, Remus…"

"… You'll see…"

"… They'll surely back soon," the twins tried to reassure him without much success.

"The worst of it is that we might never know what happened, and that we can't do anything to help them," Remus uttered, feeling as if he was letting his friends down.

All of a sudden, Dobby popped up in front of him, smiling. "Master Remus, sir, Dobby has heard that the Knight Bus is back. They wills be back soon as well."

"Oh thank Merlin," Remus breathed, "thanks so much for telling us, Dobby."

Just a few minutes later, Harry entered the room, closely followed by his parents and all the other time-travellers.

"Thank Merlin, you're back. I was so worried when you didn't return on time," Remus blurted out, before he rose from his chair to greet Lily and James. "I can't believe they managed to bring you here," he sobbed, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time.

"We're here now, everything went as it was supposed to be, and Lily has good news for you," James informed him, pulling him into a bear's hug.

"Remus, it's good to see you," Lily greeted him, smiling broadly. "The travel imps were drunk and took us to the time of the Founders of Hogwarts," she informed him, causing Remus to stare at his friend in disbelief. "Is that true?" he asked, wondering if that was some kind of joke. _'No, but it's Lily, and it's the first time we meet after so many years; she wouldn't do such a thing to me,_ ' he mused.

"Yes, it's true," Lily emphasized, "but you don't know the best yet. Salazar Slytherin taught me to brew the wolvescure, a cure for lycanthropy."

"What?" Remus asked, completely unsure if he should feel happy or hurt, because he was certain that there was no thing as a cure for lycanthropy.

Lily held out a small phial. "Don't worry, he brewed it together with me yesterday," she reassured him, smiling.

Remus hesitantly accepted the phial. It was labelled _'The wolvescure'_. Remus did not recognise the writing. It was not Lily's. Instead, the letters looked somehow ancient. "Did Slytherin write this?" he enquired, causing Lily to nod.

"Yes, he was very nice. When we told him about you, he immediately offered to brew the wolvescure for you," Lily told him, seemingly happy.

"Thank you so very much," Remus stammered. "I still can't believe it. Oh, by the way, when do I have to take it? The wolfsbane I always had to take during the last three days before the full moon. Is it the same with the cure?"

Lily stared at him in clear shock. "Oh no, Remus, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to ask about that, and Salazar didn't say anything. I don't have a clue."

"Maybe it's in the recipe?" Harry, who had been listening in to the conversation, spoke up.

"No, I'm sure it's not, because I wrote it down myself," Lily said, letting out a deep sigh.

"Well, then I'll go and ask him," Harry replied in determination. "Remus, when is the full moon?"

"Only in two weeks' time," Remus informed him. "Harry, let's go together please. I'm so sorry to make you travel through time again, but I'd really like to use it efficiently."

"I understand, and it's no problem," Harry promised. "We can go next Sunday. I only have to ask Draco to ask the travel imps to take us."

 **Lily**

During the rest of the day, everyone spent some time to get settled into Potter Manor. At first, Lily and James had a huge fight with James' parents about the master suite. For her and James, it was only natural that his parents should live in the master suite; however, the older Potters insisted that Lily and James should use the rooms, while they would reside in one of the small towers at the far end of the building.

In the end, James gave in and convinced Lily that they would take the master suite if his parents wanted to use the tower. Secretly, Lily was delighted, as the master suite was gorgeous, and it ensured that they were far enough away from her parents-in-law to not get on each other's nerves. As much as she loved her parents-in-law, she did not need to have them in the next room forever. She was very happy, however, to have Harry nearby.

 _'I think I need to spend some time with Harry alone to get to know him better,'_ she resolved, when she went to bed that night. _'Maybe we can spend some hours together tomorrow. We also have to decide what to tell the public of our return though. Hopefully, Amelia can help James and me to decide on an official version. We also need someone at the ministry to put us back on the alive people's list.'_

 **James**

In the morning, everyone gathered in the dining room for breakfast, only to remain there, chatting, until lunchtime.

"Now, I think it's enough of chit-chat now," James suddenly said, causing everyone to look at him in clear expectation. "I want Harry to explain how he met Voldemort." Turning to his son, he added, "You told us that you met him twice at Hogwarts."

"And Draco observed his resurrection," Harry added, before he began to tell his parents and grandparents everything about his first and second Hogwarts year.

When he talked about the diary and how he destroyed it with the basilisk's fang, James eyed Sirius in shock. "Siri, do you remember when we explored the Black library?"

Sirius returned his look, equally horrified. "You mean…"

"Yes," James answered his unasked question. "It's a Horcrux. That means that Voldemort made Horcruxes," he concluded, before he explained to the others what a Horcrux was.

"That means that we have to find out how many he made, then we search for them and destroy them," Harry spoke up, matter-of-factly.

"Yes," James agreed. "I suppose that you all know about the prophecy?"

"Prophecy?" Hermione was the first to enquire.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies_ ," James recited the prophecy. "Dumbledore told us about it and suggested that we should go into hiding, fearing that someone had informed Voldemort about it."

"That was Snape," Sirius hissed, furiously.

"Yes, well, he only seemed to have overheard the first part of it, while Trelawney made the prophecy to Dumbledore at the Hogs' Head," James lightly corrected. "It doesn't really matter though. That's why Voldemort went after Harry in any case."

"That's why he tried to kill me when I was a baby," Harry spoke up, questioningly.

"Exactly," James said, grimly. "Now, thanks to you and Sirius, we're here and will help you destroy the Horcruxes and make a plan for you to get rid of him forever."

"Thank you, Dad," Harry breathed, warmly, smiling broadly at his parents. "Draco, would you mind telling Dad about the resurrection?"

Upon hearing the story, James let out a long sigh. "So that means that one Horcrux has been destroyed and another has been used by him. If we believe that he made seven, he should have five left."

"Why seven?" Lily asked, causing several others to nod in agreement.

"Because it's a special number," Sirius threw in.

"Well, yes," James admitted, "but rather it's the most into which he'd be able to split his soul in order to remain human."

"That makes sense," Remus agreed.

"He only looked so much human, but yes, I guess it makes sense," Draco concurred.

 **Sirius**

"Sirius," James turned to him, "is Raros still working as an Unspeakable?"

Sirius cast him a surprised look. "How would I know that?" he queried, shrugging. "Why are you asking?"

James gave Sirius a strange look, which Sirius could not comprehend.

"What?" Sirius asked, crossly. "What do I have to do with the Unspeakables?"

James looked at him, wide-eyed. "Did you not know?" he enquired in apparent surprise.

"Did I not know what?" Sirius returned the question, feeling slightly annoyed at his best friend.

"When Regulus turned his back to Voldemort, he began working with the Unspeakables under the code name Raros," James informed him, causing Sirius to shake his head.

"That's not true. Regulus is dead," he growled.

"No," James insisted. "He feigned his death and became an Unspeakable. Maybe he didn't have a chance to tell you, before you went to Azkaban?"

"Then how do you know?" Sirius wanted to know, glaring at the other Marauders. _'Such an idiot_ ,' he thought, grimly. _'I'm his brother. It's me whom he should have told in the first place.'_

 _'Well, you weren't exactly friendly to him,_ ' a small voice spoke up from the back of his mind.

 _'That was because I thought he was a follower of Voldemort,_ ' Sirius thought back.

Remus shook his head. "I didn't know such a thing."

James shrugged. "I once met him at the ministry and told him to his face who I believed he was. He couldn't deny it but made me promise to not tell anyone else. Oh well, by now I thought you should have known about it."

"Shall we ask him to work together with us on the Horcrux matter then?" Sirius suggested.

"Exactly, that's what I meant to suggest," James agreed, grinning.

Only when Amelia entered the room, everyone realised that it was almost dinnertime and that they had not moved from the table since breakfast.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen," she spoke up, turning to the two older generations of Potters, "you're back in game."

When everyone looked at her in a combination of confusion and amusement, she continued, "I explained to the magical community that the travel imps took the Knight Bus thirteen years into the past and that they brought back four people, saving them from certain death, but that they otherwise didn't change history in any way. The travel imps have promised Minister Fudge that they will never ever again travel through time, and the magical world is now celebrating having Lily and James Potter as well as his parents back. You must know that you, Lily and James, are celebrities in the magical world, just like Harry."

"Oh Merlin, just what we needed," Lily groaned, glancing at Harry, who nodded in clear understanding.

"Oh and James, welcome back to the Aurors. I'm very relieved to have you in my department together with Sirius," Amelia added, smiling broadly.

"Thank you, Amelia," James replied, calmly. "I'll be there beginning tomorrow morning, and my first job will contain making an appointment with Unspeakable Raros."

"Did the travel imps really promise the minister to not do time travels anymore?" Harry spoke up, seemingly horrified.

"Yes, that they did," Amelia confirmed, giving him a pitying look.

"How was the minister able to communicate with them at all?" Draco asked, curiously.

Amelia sighed. "Apparently, house-elves are able to speak with the travel imps. I'm sorry; I didn't know that until this morning."

Noticing Remus' and Harry's expressions of disappointment, Sirius thought, _'Poor Harry. He wanted to study with the Founders.'_ He looked up, startled, when he saw from the corners of his eyes how Remus pulled a small phial from his robe pocket, uncorked it and downed it without batting an eyelid.

 _tbc..._


	16. Chapter 16

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Sirius looked at Amelia. "Did you really have to tell Fudge the truth about the travel imps?" he asked, only to add, "In spite of knowing that Remus and Harry need to travel back to the Founders' time?"

Amelia let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Sirius, Remus and Harry. But as you know, even the goblins are aware that the travel imps are able to travel through time with the Knight Bus, and time travel was the only reasonable explanation for the Knight Bus to have vanished from all radars. Moreover, I believe that it's better that the travel imps promised Fudge not to travel to the future or past again. Remember that Voldemort is alive? That Death Eaters could as well use them to time travel and do mischief in whatever time? I'm sure that the Founders will find another way to interact with Harry and Remus, when they realise that he's not able to travel back to their time again."

"I hope so," Harry said in a small voice. _'It would be so cool to meet Ceridwen again,_ ' he thought, smiling. _'I've never met anyone like her.'_

 **Hermione**

On the one hand, Hermione felt relieved knowing that the travel imps would not take Harry to the time of the Founders of Hogwarts every now and then. On the other hand, looking at his face, she knew that he was completely in love with the girl whom he had met during their short visit in the past.

 _'Well, I can only wait and see,'_ she thought, wondering what they were going to do now that their first plan of action – fetch Lily and James Potter into their time – was completed.

"Sirius," she addressed Harry's godfather, who was more cheerful than he had ever been so far, "what are we going to do now?"

Sirius nodded into her direction. "Tomorrow morning, James, Harry and I are going to meet Unspeakable Raros. We'll talk to him about the Horcruxes and try to get his assistance in the matter. Depending on what he's able to tell us, from tomorrow onwards, we're all going to search for the Horcruxes.

"I'll also begin to research time travel once again," Harry spoke up, sighing.

"I'll help you," Hermione heard herself voice a promise, which she almost regretted immediately.

"Oh well, I think I'm going to pay my dear sister a visit," Lily said, smirking.

Hermione eyed the witch, who was only seven years older than herself, with admiration and amusement. _'Oh Merlin, I wonder what she's going to do to Petunia Dursley,'_ she thought. _'I certainly wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of her wand.'_

The twins gave Draco a questioning look.

"Heya Dracokins…"

"… Don't you think…"

"… it was our duty…"

"… to once visit the travel imps…"

"… and ask them if there was a way…"

"… to convince them…"

"… to time travel again?" they queried, causing Draco to roll his eyes in annoyance at their way of speaking.

"Sure," he replied, readily, "but remember that we can only speak with them on a Sunday morning."

The twins nodded in understanding, and the three boys agreed to go to the Imp Cauldron on Sunday.

 **James**

Together with Sirius and Harry, James took the Floo to the ministry. First of all, they headed to the Auror division, where all of the older Aurors, who had been his co-workers in the past, greeted him with apparent enthusiasm.

"It's good to have you back, lad," Mad-Eye Moody told him, his magical eye dancing around like mad.

"I'm glad to be here, too," James replied, only to admit, "I know nothing about this time and what happened during the last thirteen years though. So I really need your help."

"Don't worry," Moody reassured him. "Just having you and Sirius back is an important asset in our fight against Voldemort. You can also assist training your son, since Voldemort seems to have taken special interest in him."

"Shall we go?" Sirius and Harry came to fetch him, and James quickly apologized to Moody, informing the Auror that they had an appointment with Unspeakable Raros.

 _'Everything looks like it did thirteen years ago,'_ James thought, as they headed to the section of the Unspeakables, where Raros was already waiting for them.

"Let's go in here," he greeted them, as he led them into a small, empty meeting room. Looking at James, he added, "It's great to have you back. The magical world is thrilled."

"Hi Raros," James replied, grinning. "I heard so. I'm glad myself. How have things been with you and the Unspeakables in the meantime?"

Glancing at Sirius, Raros shrugged. "It was a quiet time with the Dark Lord gone. He only came back recently."

"Why did you never tell me?" Sirius suddenly blurted out. "I'd have been happy for you."

"For what?" Raros queried, his voice laced with surprise.

"For being alive," Sirius growled. "I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry, but there was no chance of speaking with you, and then you got yourself locked up in Azkaban," Raros said, matter-of-factly.

"Are you living in the old Black house?" Sirius enquired, causing Raros to nod. "I'll go to Gringotts and have it written over to you then. I'd have done so long ago, had I known."

"Sorry," Raros apologized, "and that'd be really great if you don't mind. Thanks so much."

"You're welcome," Sirius replied, grinning.

Realising that the two brothers' conversation was over, James began to speak. "The reason why we wanted to see you was to speak about Horcruxes." Although he could not see the Unspeakable's face, he realised that Raros sat straighter the instant he mentioned the word.

"He used one for his resurrection, another was the diary, which Harry destroyed in his second Hogwarts year, so we believe that he should have about five more left, and we were wondering if you'd be willing to assist us in finding them," he continued, giving Raros a questioning look.

To James' utter surprise, Raros began to laugh. He exchanged a confused look with Harry and Sirius, however, it took at least a minute, before the Unspeakable calmed down enough to speak.

"I've already found two of them," he informed them, "Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup. I don't know how to destroy them though."

"Leave that to me," Harry spoke up for the first time. "I only need to go to Hogwarts and enter the Chamber of Secrets to get some basilisk fang, which we can use to destroy them."

"The Chamber of Secrets," Raros said, pensively. "Would you perhaps be willing to take you with me?"

"Of course, sir," Harry promised, smiling.

"I believe that there might be a ring somewhere in the old Gaunt house," Raros continued to speak. "However, I didn't go looking for it yet, as I wasted my time trying to destroy the others. "Plus, I'd like to look for Rowena's diadem, which is probably a Horcrux as well. The last one, if I'm correct, is his pet snake, Nagini."

"That makes seven," James said, feeling incredibly relieved. _'Oh Merlin, this is good_ ,' he mused. _'I thought this would be much more difficult.'_

 **Harry**

Raros hesitated for a moment, before turning to Harry. "Excuse me, Mr. Potter, will you allow me to cast a spell at your scar?" he asked, politely.

"Of course, sir," Harry replied, in spite of feeling extremely uncomfortable at the thought of having someone point their wand at his scar.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain erupted from his scar, which vanished again after a few seconds.

"Did that hurt?" Raros enquired, causing Harry to nod.

"Yes sir, very much," he admitted. "What does it mean, sir?" he added, quickly, knowing that it could only be really bad.

"It means that Voldemort made another Horcrux, when he tried to kill you as a baby," Raros explained. "We need to research how to remove that though. I wouldn't want to attack you with a basilisk fang," he added, and even if Harry could not see the Unspeakable's face, he knew that he was grinning at him.

"Excuse me, sir," Harry asked, hesitantly, "is that why I get visions from Voldemort or can feel his emotions?"

"Is that so?" Raros asked, sharply.

"Sometimes," Harry admitted, looking at the Unspeakable in expectation.

"We'll have to do some research," Raros concluded. "Perhaps, if the three of you could look after the Gaunt ring and Rowena's diadem, I can research Harry's Horcrux."

Everyone agreed, and the four wizards decided to meet every Wednesday morning to speak about the matter and possible progress.

"Harry, are you, by chance, interested in becoming an Unspeakable?" Raros enquired, causing Harry to stare at him in shock.

"I'd love that, but I'm only fourteen," he replied, shyly.

"That doesn't matter. Think about it, and if you want, I'll make you my apprentice," Raros promised.

Harry remained quiet for a moment, his thoughts going haywire. _'Are there any negative aspects about becoming an Unspeakable?_ ' he wondered. _'I can only see positive points, and it would surely help me with the fight against Voldemort,_ ' he thought.

"Raros," he spoke up in determination. "Please sir, I'd like to become your apprentice."

"Very well," the Unspeakable replied, gently, "I'll expect you here at eight o'clock in the morning on Mondays through Fridays from the first of August onwards. Everything else we'll talk about at that time. It will take between two and three years, before you're going to be a proper Unspeakable, depending on your performance."

Harry profusely thanked the Unspeakable, before a sudden thought crossed his mind. "Raros, would you perhaps be willing to visit us for a private dinner sometime? I'm sure you and Sirius have much to talk about."

"Yes, please do so," Sirius added in a firm voice.

Harry quickly scribbled the address on one of the small parchments, which he always carried around for exactly that purpose, and handed it to the Unspeakable.

"Seven o'clock tonight?" Sirius suggested, and Raros readily agreed.

 _'That's going to be fun,'_ Harry thought. _'Raros seems nice, but I can't wait to get to know him as Sirius' brother.'_

 **Regulus**

After seeing Sirius, James and Harry off, Regulus returned to his office, where he remained sitting behind his desk for a while, pondering his situation.

Ever since he had become an Unspeakable, feigning his own death, he had solely been Raros – never Regulus. All this time, James Potter had been the only person knowing the truth about his identity, and he had taken the knowledge with him to his grave. At least Regulus had believed so until he received Amelia's note on the previous day.

 _'I wonder if Sirius is really happy that I'm alive,'_ he thought. _'He never really liked me.'_

 _'That was because you supported your parents and the Dark Lord,'_ a small voice spoke up from the back of his mind, and Regulus had to admit to himself that it was the truth _. 'Perhaps I should have told him all along. Oh well, it wouldn't have mattered much, considering that he was in Azkaban all these years.'_

 _'All right then,'_ he thought, trying to not become too emotional, _'I'll get a grip on myself and tell the others about Harry Potter becoming our new apprentice. They'll be thrilled_.' With that, he left his room and headed to the head of the Unspeakables' office.

"Croaker," he addressed his boss, "I've got a new apprentice from August onwards."

"Well done, Raros," the older Unspeakable commended him, "and who might that be?"

"Harry Potter," Raros admitted, feeling somehow proud of himself.

"Oh, that was extremely well done then," Croaker said, pensively. "When he has finished his education and becomes a proper Unspeakable, I can retire in good conscience."

"Oh no," Raros replied, feeling shocked at the revelation. "Please don't do such a thing, sir. We need you, especially until Voldemort is really gone."

Croaker chuckled. "Well Raros, you'll make a brilliant head of the Unspeakables. I'm certain."

 **Lily**

When James, Sirius and Harry left for the ministry, Lily remained sitting at the table together with Remus, her parents-in-law and Harry's friends.

"Remus, do you feel any different after taking the potion?" she enquired.

"I'm not sure," her friend replied, seemingly thoughtful. "If at all, I feel better," he said, slowly.

Lily nodded in understanding. "Frankly speaking, I believe that the potion should work at any time," she said. "From what I saw, Salazar was a very thorough potions master, and I'm quite certain that he'd have told us if the potion needed to be taken within a certain timeframe. But for the time being, we can only wait and see. We should take note that you took it fourteen days before the full moon, so that we can try a different point of time if it didn't work this time."

"Thank you so much for doing this for me," Remus replied, smiling.

"I wished you were the Potions professor at Hogwarts," Hermione spoke up in clear admiration.

"Yeah, that's true…"

"… as Professor Snape is a real git," the twins agreed.

"He was my friend until our fifth Hogwarts year," Lily admitted, causing Hermione, Draco and the twins to stare at her in apparent disbelief.

"He was a real git to Harry and one of the reasons he left Hogwarts after his third year," Hermione informed her.

Lily gave the young witch a sharp nod. "After having a word with my sister, I'm going to pay Hogwarts a visit. First of all, I'm going to tell Minerva the good news, but then, Dumbledore will have a few questions to answer."

"Do you need an escort?" Remus offered, grinning.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to deal with them myself. I was always good at Charms," Lily replied in a firm voice, causing everyone else to grin in clear expectation.

"Can you wait…"

"… until we manage to become fly Animagi?" the twins enquired, chuckling.

"We'd really watch them getting what they deserve."

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so much for your kind comments. I appreciate them very much. Have a nice week, and I'll see you next weekend or even sooner with Lily on the war path :)_


	17. Chapter 17

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Lily**

 _'Hogwarts first,'_ Lily thought, as she headed to the fireplace. ' _Then Petunia, and later shopping. I really need some more clothes. Maybe we should have taken more time packing before leaving our own time.'_

"Professor McGonagall's office, Hogwarts," she said as clearly as possible, when she stepped into the fireplace.

When she found herself thrown out on the other end, she stood face to face with her former mentor, who was wearing an uncharacteristically broad smile.

"So it's true then; Sirius and Harry really brought you here," Minerva greeted her, pulling her into a bear's hug.

"Yes, they saved our lives," Lily replied, happily. "It's still strange suddenly living thirteen years in the future, having a teenaged boy instead of a one-year-old baby, but still, we're very happy to be here. James is back with the Aurors, together with Sirius, so I thought I'd come here first."

"That was well done, Lily. I missed you so much. Oh well, everyone has been missing you," Minerva told her, as she ushered her into her private quarters.

"Would you like some tea?" she offered.

"Well, in fact, I haven't been doing anything but drinking tea ever since we came to this time two days ago, but yes, I'd appreciate it," Lily accepted, curiously glancing around. ' _Nothing seems to have changed here_ ,' she thought, contentedly.

"Sirius and Remus told me that Harry's doing fairly well," Lily began to speak, hesitantly, "but I know that they're both very taken with him, so whatever they say doesn't seem very objective to me. May I ask for your opinion please?"

To her relief, Minerva smiled. "Harry has been doing well at Hogwarts. Yes, he got into every kind of trouble that one could get into, but he was a good student, and he was well behaved. I was very worried, when he left Hogwarts out of his own accord at the end of his third year, however, considering that he took his OWLs just one year later, I must believe that Sirius and Remus are teaching him well," she replied in a soft voice.

"I don't know if they told you that, but Remus was our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher during Harry's third year, however, he had to leave, because Severus spread word about him being a werewolf," she added, giving Lily a sad look. "He was a very good teacher, in fact, the best we had in that subject for a very long time."

"I need you to keep that to yourself for the time being, but I'll probably be able to cure Remus from Lycanthropy," Lily entrusted her former mentor with her secret and told her how they had ended up in the time of the Founders of Hogwarts.

"Oh Merlin, I'd have loved to accompany you," Minerva replied, promising at the same time to not speak about the matter with anyone.

Lily chuckled. "Well, it definitely wasn't planned, and since the travel imps seem to have promised to not do time travels anymore, I don't know if we'll ever be able to return there. Harry is doing some research now though, and I promise that if we ever manage to go there again, we'll take you with you."

"Thank you so much. I'd love that," Minerva replied, smiling. "Do you intend to publish the recipe for the cure? You'd surely receive the Order of Merlin if you did so."

"I'm not sure yet. Salazar told me to do with it like I wished, and he said he wanted me to take full credit for it," Lily replied, unsurely. "I'm thinking to perhaps not publish it but to just brew many doses of the cure and offer them to St. Mungo's. I mean, right now, I have time, and I know how to brew it properly, as it's not completely easy, so…" She slowly trailed off, giving the older witch a questioning look.

"Do that," Minerva encouraged her, causing Lily to nod, contentedly.

She pondered if she should tell Minerva about Harry going to be the owner of Hogwarts in one and a half years' time, however, decided against it. _'We can still speak about that at a later time,'_ she decided and took her leave, informing Minerva that she had still to talk to the headmaster and wash his head about ignoring her and James' will."

"You had a will?" Minerva enquired, incredulously.

Lily confirmed that they did not only make a will before that fateful Halloween, but that it explicitly named with whom Harry was to be placed in case something happened to the Potters. "You're also mentioned in the will, and it clearly says that he is not to be sent to my sister and her horrible husband."

"Lily, I'm so sorry," Minerva replied, clearly shocked. "Albus made me believe that there was no will and that it would be the best for Harry to grow up with his aunt in the muggle world."

"Minerva, it's not your fault," Lily reassured the older witch. "I'm going to have a conversation with the headmaster about the matter though."

"I'll accompany you," Minerva decided in a voice that forbade contradiction, and the two witches strode through the empty castle towards the headmaster's office.

 **Albus Dumbledore**

Albus was sitting behind his desk, absentmindedly petting his phoenix Fawkes' crown feathers. ' _Having the Potters back complicates everything even more,_ ' he thought, wondering what he had done wrong when dealing with Harry Potter. ' _He should have believed me to be the helpful, kind grandfather, to whom he could turn whenever he had a problem_ ,' he thought, sadly. ' _I hope the Potters will insist that he returns to Hogwarts for his studies though. Maybe I can still gain some influence on him._ '

Just then, he heard Minerva come up the stairs. She was together with someone; however, he was not able to figure out who it was.

"Come in," he said, once Minerva had reached the top step, only to stare at the newcomers in disbelief once realising that her company was none other than Lily Potter.

"Mrs. Potter," he greeted her, feigning a small smile. "How nice of you to visit me." Waving his hand around the room, he offered his visitors a seat. When Minerva and Lily Potter complied, he pondered for a moment if he needed the lemon drops that were laced with Veritaserum, before he decided against it and held out a small bowl with normal lemon drops.

Both witches declined, and before Albus could do as much as try to gain in the upper hand in the conversation, Lily Potter spoke up in a very angry voice.

"How dare you ignore our will and place Harry with my horrible sister?" she almost shouted.

"You had a will?" Albus enquired, feigning ignorance.

"Headmaster, lying won't work for me," the young witch replied. "We left our will with Buckbean, and he told Remus Lupin that you forbade him to publicly announce our wishes. Let me just ask you one question: What did you gain by sending my baby to an abusive muggle family, who wanted nothing to do with him?"

"Mrs. Potter, you must understand that it was a dangerous time, and with your sister, Harry was being kept safe due to blood wards…"

"Nonsense," Lily Potter interrupted him, rashly. "That means for me that you don't have a valid reason, and I'm afraid that we'll meet again in court."

"Now now, Mrs. Potter," Albus tried to soothe the upset witch, however, in vain.

"Albus, Lily is completely right, and believe me or not, I'm going to full heartedly support the Potters in this matter," Minerva informed him, coldly, before the two witches left his office in a huff.

"You'll hear from me," he heard Lily Potter threaten him, before the door shut with a loud bang.

' _Oh Merlin, maybe I should just retire from all my positions and live in the manor in Italy for the rest of my life_ ,' Albus pondered, however, realised, _'Harry still needs me to get rid of Voldemort.'_

 **Harry**

When Harry returned home from their appointment with Raros, James and Sirius remained at the ministry to work with the Aurors. He went straight into the kitchen to have some hot chocolate and ponder his situation.

 _'Just four weeks, and then my apprenticeship is going to commence,'_ he thought, while he sipped his cocoa. On the one hand, he was looking forward to working together with Raros very much, however, on the other hand, he could not help feeling apprehensive.

Suddenly, his grandmother entered the kitchen. "Ah, here you are," she said in apparent surprise.

"Yeah, I just came back a few minutes ago," Harry replied, smiling. "Where are the others?"

"Your friends, Remus and your grandfather have gone into the park to play Quidditch, Hermione is reading in the library and your mother went to Hogwarts and to your aunt's house," the old witch informed him. "Would you mind me joining you?"

"Of course not," Harry replied, bewildered. "I'm happy to have you here."

"You seemed very absentminded," his grandmother observed. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling, and informed the old witch about his upcoming apprenticeship. "So if I want to spend some time in the past to study with the Founders of Hogwarts, I need to find a way soon."

"Ah, don't worry," his grandmother replied in a soothing voice. "In the worst case, you can always speak with the Founders, as I'm certain that they should have a portrait in their own quarters at Hogwarts."

"I hope so," Harry agreed, letting out a long sigh.

 **Lily**

After taking her leave from Minerva, Lily walked down to Hogsmeade and apparated to a small park near the Dursley residence.

 _'Poor Harry. He lived here for eleven years,'_ she thought, eyeing her sister's house in disdain. _'Maybe we can be glad that he still turned out so well.'_

She hesitantly rang the doorbell, and after a little while, Petunia opened the door.

Petunia stared at the young witch who looked the spitting image of her younger sister as if she were a monster, before blurting out, "Who in the world are you?"

"Hi Petunia, nice to see you, too," Lily replied, calmly. "I am who I look like. May I come inside?"

Petunia quickly pulled her inside, apparently not wanting the neighbours to see her freaky sister, and Lily inwardly chuckled. _'Some things just don't change,_ ' she thought in amusement.

However, her amusement changed into shock, when Petunia pulled her into a bear's hug.

"Ah, Lily, you're my saviour," she blurted out, before she motioned Lily to take a seat.

Before Lily could understand her sister's strange mood, Petunia let herself sink onto the sofa and began to sob.

"Petunia, what's wrong?" Lily asked in confusion, trying to remind herself that she had come to scold her sister and curse her for her behaviour towards Harry.

"It's Dudley," Petunia sobbed, "he's been kicked out of his school because of doing magic."

Lily could not help chuckling. "What?" she asked in surprise. "Harry told me that according to you and your husband, magic doesn't even exist."

"Well, it happened during a Rugby match that he summoned the ball by magic in front of the whole school, and even after they've warned him about it, he once manged to transfigure his vegetables into a chocolate pie. Now my husband is threatening me that either Dudley has to leave or he'll go away," Petunia continued in a grave voice. "He's on a business trip until Friday, and until then, I have to do something about the matter. I'd leave together with Dudley, but if I did so, I wouldn't have any money and nowhere to live. Lily, would you perhaps be willing to take Dudley in?"

"I can't promise you anything, because I need to speak with Harry first," Lily replied in a stern voice. "He, no, not he, but his friends told me that the three of you made his life a living hell. So, I need to ask him if he'd mind having Dudley with us," she decided.

"Lily, I'm so sorry about how I behaved towards Harry, but Vernon didn't give me a choice," Petunia blurted out between her sobs. "He already threatened to leave me when Dudley was still a little tyke, just because of having a freak in the family."

"Well, I'm going to return home and speak with Harry," Lily replied, toying with the thought of cursing Petunia and her husband, however, decided against it for the time being. "I'll be back later."

"Thanks Lily," Petunia breathed in apparent relief. "Please tell Harry that I'm sorry."

 **Harry**

Harry was still sitting in the kitchen, engrossed in his conversation with his grandmother, when his mother entered the kitchen.

"How did your visits go?" the older witch enquired, causing Harry to look at his mother in expectation.

Lily let out a deep sigh. "Good, bad and worse to say the least," she replied, glancing at Harry. "Oh well, I was on the war path today. After threatening Dumbledore with a trial about ignoring our will and sending Harry to an abusive muggle family, I went to the Dursleys."

"And?" Harry enquired, when his mother stopped speaking for a moment.

"Your cousin, Dudley, has been kicked out of his school because of doing magic," Lily informed him, causing Harry to stare at her in disbelief.

"Her husband has threatened to leave her and the boy. So she asked me if I would be willing to take Dudley in," his mother explained, seemingly hesitant.

"Of course, he can come here if he promises to behave," Harry decided quickly.

"Harry, do you really mean that?" Lily enquired, giving him a sharp look.

"Of course," Harry confirmed, shrugging, only to ask, "Why didn't you bring him right away?"

"Because I wanted to make it your decision. You know him and had to live together with him for many years. If you're not comfortable with him living together with us, I won't take him in," Lily explained.

"I'll go and fetch him," Harry said, as he rose from his chair and walked towards the fireplace. "Mum," he called out, when a sudden thought crossed his mind, "is it all right, when I ask Aunt Petunia to come as well?"

"If she behaves, I don't have a problem with it," Lily replied, grinning.

 **Dudley**

 _'I wished Harry was here,_ ' he thought. _'I can't believe that I harassed him all these years just for being magical, which isn't even his fault. Nor is it mine. Maybe I could write to Hogwarts and ask for help?_ ' he wondered, just when he heard a knock at his door, and his cousin entered the room.

"Hi Dudley," Harry greeted him, smiling. "I heard you were having problems with magic?"

"Yeah," Dudley admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Now, pack your things, I mean only those which you really need like clothes and such, and then let's go. Your mum is coming with us," Harry informed him.

Even if Dudley only packed what he really needed, he ended up with two suitcases, while his mother had gathered three large boxes.

"Dobby," Harry shouted, and Dudley shrank back in fright, when a strange creature popped up in front of them.

"What cans Dobby do for the great Harry Potter?" the elf enquired.

"Dobby, these are my cousin Dudley and my Aunt Petunia," Harry explained. "This is Dobby, a wonderful house-elf. Dobby, Aunt Petunia and Dudley are going to live with us. Could you please take their luggage to the manor and ask Gina to gather some elves and prepare rooms for them? Perhaps in the third floor of the southern wing to give them some privacy."

With a happy "All right" Dobby popped away, taking all the luggage with him.

' _That was strange,_ ' Dudley thought, unaware that he was going to meet much stranger obstacles than house-elves in the magical world.

"How are we going to travel to your home?" Dudley enquired, giving Harry a questioning look.

"We're going to use the fireplace at Mrs. Figg's house," Harry replied, showing him and his mother a small parchment with the address of Potter Manor written on it.

Dudley hesitantly entered the old lady's house, however, Mrs. Figg did not even pay attention to them and merely nodded, when Harry informed her that they wanted to use her fireplace.

Harry patiently showed them how to travel through what he called the Floo network, and a moment later, Dudley found himself in the largest room that he had ever seen apart from the dining room in his former school.

His mother and Harry followed swiftly though, and Harry took them for a tour around the enormously large house to introduce them to his family and friends as their new house guests.

 _tbc..._


	18. Chapter 18

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

At dinner, Harry introduced Dudley and Regulus to his extended family, and to his relief, everyone including the Weasley twins and Draco were nice to the two wizards upon hearing their complete stories.

Receiving everyone's approval, Regulus cast a charm at the whole group that would prevent everyone to speak to others about his secret, before he admitted that he had turned against Voldemort upon realising just how evil the wizard was. Unfortunately, Voldemort had found out about it and cursed him, causing Regulus to spend several months at St. Mungo's recovering. Feigning his own death, he completely vanished from the magical world, hiding behind his new identity with the Unspeakables.

"So ever since then, you've been working with the Unspeakables?" Hermione asked in clear excitement.

"Yes," Regulus replied, smiling. "James here was the only one who came behind my secret, and I'm very grateful that he kept it to himself. Well, maybe I'd have told Sirius eventually, but since he managed to get himself locked up in Azkaban…" He slowly trailed off, giving his older brother a pitying look.

"Well, that's done," Sirius commented, shrugging.

 _'He seems really happy to have Regulus back,_ ' Harry thought. ' _I'm glad that he's so nice. It's going to be great to have him for a boss.'_

"Dudley, are you going to study at Hogwarts?" Hermione suddenly enquired, giving his cousin a questioning look.

"I don't know," the boy replied with a sudden shyness. "Harry, what do you think I should do?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I left Hogwarts a year ago, and I don't regret it, but maybe it would be the best for you to attend Hogwarts. Perhaps we can teach you as much as possible during the holidays, so that you might be able to attend Hogwarts from a higher year onwards and don't have to become a first-year together with all the eleven-year-olds," he suggested, giving Remus a questioning look.

"We should do that," Hermione agreed. "We can take turns teaching Dudley."

"I'm in," Draco offered.

"Count us in," the twins spoke up, simultaneously.

"Well, we'll all help. We'll set up a time table tomorrow," Remus promised, smiling at Dudley, who let out a long sigh.

"Thank you so much, everyone," he said in apparent relief.

"Now that everyone and everything is settled, I'd like to bring my niece Susan to spend the rest of the summer with us," Amelia spoke up, smiling. "Would anyone mind?"

"Of course not," Harry was the first to respond. "You should have brought her a long time ago."

"I was wondering where she was," Hermione added.

 **James**

James found it difficult to adjust to his new life thirteen years in the future. Apart from his work as an Auror, Lily, the love of his life, as well as Baby Harry had been his focus. Now however, his son was fourteen years old, had already taken his OWLs and was soon going to be an Unspeakable.

One day at the beginning of June, his boss called him into her office. "James, just so you know," she told him in a firm voice, "I've been able to get a trial for Dumbledore. It's going to take place on the thirtieth of June."

"A trial against Dumbledore?" James asked in confusion. "Why?"

Amelia sighed in clear exasperation. "Because your wife promised him to get one," she replied, sounding upset. "Perhaps because of ignoring your will and sending your baby to an abusive family?"

"Oh right," James recalled that Lily had said something like that. "That's good. Thank you so much for putting him on a trial."

Amelia nodded. "You and Lily should spend some time with Harry, Remus and Minerva preparing for the trial. You need to get all the important information. Maybe Hermione should join as well. She knows Harry best."

"All right, we'll do that," James promised, once again thanking the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for her support in this matter.

With that, he returned to his office to continue his discussion with Sirius about their visit to the Gaunt house, which they had planned for the following day.

 **Harry**

Seeing that all his former classmates fawned over Dudley, while the twins had retired to the potions lab to work on a self-invented prank potion, Harry decided to get to work and wrote a letter to McGonagall.

 _'Dear Professor McGonagall,_

 _Together with Unspeakable Raros, I would like to visit you and ask for your help in a difficult matter. Would it be all right if we came to Hogwarts to see you next Monday?  
Please kindly give your response to my elf, Dobby, and please do not inform the headmaster about our visit._

 _Best regards  
Harry Potter'_

"Dobby," he instructed the elf, "please take this letter to Professor McGonagall. This time, I want you to hand it over directly and wait for her reply."

"Of course, Dobby wills do that for the great Harry Potter," Dobby beamed and popped away with a loud crack, causing Harry to shake his head in amusement.

To his relief, the deputy headmistress replied affirmatively and suggested that Raros and Harry should come to her office around ten o'clock in the morning.

When he told his friends about the matter on Sunday evening, they stared at him in surprise.

"Harry, I'm going to accompany you," Hermione was the first to reply.

"I'll come as well," Draco added in a firm voice.

"I'm going to keep Dudley company," Susan said, smiling.

"Thanks Susan," Harry replied, knowing that Dudley could not just skip a day but had to keep on with his lessons with Remus as best as possible.

"We'll join you at Hogwarts," the twins decided. "The more eyes look for the diadem, the easier it should be to find it."

"Dobby will come as well, because we need him to get out of the Chamber of Secrets," Harry stated, recalling, "The last time, Fawkes flashed me, but considering that the headmaster doesn't know about our visit tomorrow, we better not rely on him."

"Harry," James said, once he was alone with his son later in the evening. "Here," he handed him a ring, which on the first glance seemed like a simple golden ring, however, was bearing the Potter crest. "Wear this. Your mother has charmed it to work as a Portkey. You only have to whisper 'Home to Potter Manor', and it'll take you back here. Please put it on and never take it off. You don't know what Dumbledore might be up to, now that he's going to face a trial."

"Thanks Dad," Harry replied, gratefully, as he swiftly put the ring on the ring finger of his left hand. _'My parents really seem to care for me. It's so great to have parents,'_ he thought, feeling happier than he had ever felt before.

 **Hermione**

At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, Hermione stood in front of Professor McGonagall's office together with Harry, Draco, the twins and Raros.

The professor's eyes widened upon taking them in. "I thought only Harry and Unspeakable Raros were going to come to Hogwarts today," she muttered, giving them a questioning look.

"I'm sorry Professor," Harry apologized. "My friends all wanted to come as well."

When the professor invited them into her office, quickly conjuring chairs for all of them, Raros swiftly cast a charm at her that would prevent her from speaking about their visit and its purpose to anyone including the headmaster. Hermione was certain that her friends did not notice the charm, let alone the professor, and she only recognised the signs, because she had overheard a whispered conversation between Raros and Harry on their way up to the school from Hogsmeade.

As soon as they were all seated, Raros explained to the professor about Horcruxes and that they wanted to find Rowena's diadem, while they had to descend to the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve a basilisk's fang in order to destroy the Horcruxes.

The professor remained pensive for a moment, before she called her house-elf. "Malcolm, my visitors are looking for Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. Will you perhaps help them? You know the castle so much better than we do."

Malcolm bowed deeply. "Of course, Mistress Minerva, Malcolm will help search the room of hidden objects. If it's hidden at Hogwarts, it should be there," he informed the professor, and Hermione felt strangely reassured by the elf's apparent confidence.

"Let's look for the diadem first," Harry spoke up. "If we find it, we can take it with us to the Chamber of Secrets and destroy the Horcrux within it right away."

Everyone agreed, and they followed Malcolm up to the seventh floor.

Hermione had barely entered the room that Malcolm had informed them was the Room of Lost Objects, when a loud crash sounded from a spot across the room. An instant later, Malcolm stood in front of them.

"Malcolm found the diadem, but it's not good. Better not touch," the elf informed them.

"Thank you, Malcolm. Please show it to me," Raros spoke up and strode across the room in a fast pace.

Hermione and the others curiously followed the Unspeakable, however, before they even reached the shelf, on which the diadem seemed to have been placed, Raros turned around and approached them, carrying the item in his hands.

"Harry, please lead me to the Chamber of Secrets," he demanded, and the group quickly began to descend towards the first floor of the castle. Turning to Professor McGonagall, he added, "Professor, will you please take everyone into the kitchen or wherever they can wait for us having a cup of tea. I believe that it's better if Mr. Potter and I access the Chamber of Secrets alone."

 _'No, I want to go, too,'_ Hermione's mind screamed, and she looked at the Unspeakable in disappointment.

However, her favourite teacher immediately agreed. "Certainly," she said, nodding her head. "We'll head to my office for some refreshments. Please join us once you're done."

Even if they talked with the professor about this and that, mainly concerning their rescue of the Potters as well as their time travel to the time of the founders of Hogwarts, Hermione could not help her thoughts drifting off to Harry and Raros. ' _I hope they'll be all right,_ ' she thought in concern. _'Even if we know that the basilisk is dead, the Chamber of Secrets must be a really unpleasant place to go.'_

To her relief, it took mere thirty minutes, before Dobby popped Harry and Raros right into the professor's office.

"Dobby, I meant in front of the office," Harry lightly scolded the elf, before he thanked him profusely from taking them from the chamber.

"Done," he informed the others, smiling.

"We destroyed four Horcruxes," Raros said, sounding contented, "the diadem, Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket and the Gaunt ring."

"I thought that was still missing?" Draco spoke up in apparent confusion, causing Hermione to wonder where he had heard such a thing. _'They didn't tell us anything about Horcruxes until this morning,'_ she thought, somehow feeling left out.

"James and Sirius went to retrieve it the day before yesterday," Harry informed him, grinning.

"Please don't talk about these things outside of this office and the manor," Raros instructed the boys in a strict voice.

"Of course, sir," Harry and Draco replied, simultaneously, causing Hermine to roll her eyes, as she immediately thought of the twins, who were observing the scene in apparent amusement.

 **Susan**

 _'Dudley is really nice,'_ Susan thought, as she kept him company during his lessons with Remus. Her former teacher taught Dudley using Harry's old school books from first year onwards, and while his magic was not very strong, he did his best to try and remember every spell he was taught.

"Don't worry, Dudley, considering that your magic only manifested a few months ago, you're doing all right, and I'm sure that it's going to get stronger over time," Remus informed the boy, before he turned to her.

"Susan, would you be willing to fight a mock wizard's duel against Dudley?" he asked, smiling.

"Of course," Susan agreed, eagerly, as she jumped from her spectator seat and readied herself to block Dudley's second-year spells.

"You can make up for your lack of incantations by dodging spells," Remus instructed Dudley, and the two fifteen-year-olds busied themselves casting the Expelliarmus spell against each other, dodging the other's spell at the same time.

"This is much fun," Dudley blurted out after an hour of practising. "Thanks so much for practising with me."

"You're welcome," Susan replied, smiling. "It was fun for me, too. Go on studying hard, and maybe you'll be able to attend fifth year classes together with us," she added, encouragingly.

"I'll try," Dudley promised in apparent determination. "That would be awesome."

"I wished you could return as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor," Susan said to Remus, who smiled in return.

"Maybe in the future it'll be possible again, as I'm probably cured from lycanthropy," the Marauder replied, smiling. "However, for the time being, I don't know what Professor Dumbledore's plans are."

"Excuse me, sir, but what does probably cured mean?" Susan enquired, feeling very much confused at her former teacher's expression.

"Harry's mother brewed a potion for me, which according to Salazar Slytherin is a cure for lycanthropy," Remus explained, "apart from his word, we don't have proof that it works though. Tomorrow is the full moon, and I still need to let Sirius lock me in tomorrow evening and wait through the night, and even if I don't transform, I probably still have to do the same next month, before we really know that it worked on a permanent basis."

Susan smiled. "Good luck Remus. I really hope that it'll work and also that we're going to have you back at Hogwarts soon," she said in a soft voice, causing Dudley to nod his agreement.

 **Remus**

When Sirius locked him into the werewolf proof room in the dungeons of Potter Manor, Remus was already fairly certain that he was cured from lycanthropy.

 _'Usually, I'd already feel miserable,'_ he thought, feeling absolutely delighted in spite of trying hard to not get his hopes up.

He smiled, when Sirius once again opened the door and he and James slipped in, changing into their Animagus forms right away.

"Do you think that it's safe for you?" Remus enquired in spite of knowing better. "What if I transformed? I haven't taken any Wolfsbane potion this time."

"Wolfsbane?" James asked, incredulously, as he quickly changed back. "What's the Wolfsbane?"

"A potion to make the werewolf keep his mind during the full moon," Remus explained, grudgingly, feeling strongly reminded of his harassment by Severus Snape, whenever he had to go and receive the potion from him. _'I just hope I'll never need it again,_ ' he thought, as he absentmindedly observed James' and Sirius' antics.

 _tbc..._

 _Thank you so very much for your kind reviews. My muse appreciates them very much! Have a nice week..._


	19. Chapter 19

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Harry felt extremely excited, as it was the day, on which Dumbledore's trial was going to take place.

Very early that morning, he took the Floo to the Ministry of Magic, accompanied by his parents, Amelia, Sirius, Remus, Hermione and the twins.

Only when they stepped into the court room, which to his surprise was full with people, Buckbean joined them, and he felt strangely relieved at the goblin's presence.

"Thank you so much for coming, sir," he whispered to the goblin, who returned a broad smile.

Minister Fudge opened the trial, and a witch in pink robes, who was standing right next to him, read the accusation against Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, you're accused to have abducted Baby Harry Potter and taken him to his abusive relatives in ignorance of his parents' will," she read, lightly giggling, showing by her demeanour that she did not believe a word.

Harry let out a loud snort, when Dumbledore explained that everything had been for the greater good. He even told everyone about the prophecy between Harry and Voldemort, which he had carefully kept a secret for more than a decade.

Harry was called as the next witness and explained as best as he could how the Dursleys had treated him and that his Hogwarts letter had been addressed to the cupboard under the stairs, knowing that Hermione would scold him later on for being too gentle towards his abusive relatives.

 _'Why does the minister have that bitch lead the trial?'_ Harry wondered, angrily, when the witch in the pink robes dismissed everything he said as the lies of an attention seeking fourteen-year-old.

His parents made their statements, however, their words seemed to mean nothing to the witch standing next to the minister either. She merely stated that they had not been present during the last thirteen years and did not know the circumstances. Sirius was dismissed as scum, who had spent the time in Azkaban, and Remus was not even deemed worthy to say anything because of being a werewolf.

"What does being a werewolf have to do with stating the truth?" Harry blurted out, angrily.

"Em em," the pink robed witch replied, threatening, "Mr. Potter, if you don't behave, I'll have all children thrown out of the courtroom."

Harry merely glared at the bitch, muttering under his breath.

Finally, the twins were questioned.

"During the summer before our fifth Hogwarts year…"

"… Harry did not reply to any of our letters…"

"… and when we went to rescue him…"

"… from his atrocious relatives…"

"… we found out that his window had bars in front of it…"

"… and that his relatives were starving him," the explained together.

"A ridiculous tale told by children," the pink robed witch easily dismissed their description.

 _'They're already seventeen and adults in the magical world,'_ Harry thought, feeling extremely upset by the witch's behaviour.

"Dad, who is that bitch, and why does she have to lead the trial?" he hissed to his father, angrily.

James merely shook his head, seeming equally livid. "I don't know, but she's going to get what comes to her sometime soon," he promised his son.

"She's Dolores Umbridge, Fudge's undersecretary, and seems to believe that the magical world belongs to her," Amelia informed them in a small voice. "She's the most horrible witch whom I've ever met."

Harry could only agree with that sentiment. _'At least, she's not going to decide about the outcome of the trial,'_ he thought. _'Even she does her best to work against us.'_

Buckbean did not have more luck with his statement that Dumbledore had forbidden him to read Lily's and James' will to those who were mentioned in it.

"Ah, we all know that goblins lie through their teeth." With that, Umbridge dismissed the goblin.

When the judges finally announced the verdict, it was much too harmless for everyone's liking. Dumbledore was stripped of his headmaster duties, and Dolores Umbridge, who was going to teach Defence against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts from the new school year onwards, would take over as headmistress for the time being. However, Dumbledore still remained the head of the Wizengamot and did not receive any further punishment.

 _'That bitch the headmistress?_ ' Harry thought in horror. _'Oh, thank Merlin that I'm not at Hogwarts anymore.'_

"Don't worry, son. We won't let them get away with that," James promised, glaring at Umbridge and Fudge. "Just give us some time, maybe even a year or two, and we'll get them all."

"Thanks Dad," Harry replied, feeling slightly consoled at his father's promise.

"Oh, believe me, we'll work on the two idiots' demise," Amelia added, angrily, as she led the small group out of the courtroom.

 **Remus**

"That trial was a farce," Sirius roared, once they were back at the manor and gathered in the dining room for lunch.

"Don't worry…"

"We'll get our revenge at Hogwarts…"

"She won't want to be headmistress…"

"… for a long time," the twins replayed in a sing song melody, which those acquainted with the muggle world could easily recognise as that of Darth Vader.

"Be careful," Hermione warned the twins. "She can easily kick you out of the school."

"Oh, in that case…"

"… we'll just come here…"

"… and have Remus teach us…"

"… until our NEWTs," the twins replied, matter-of-factly.

"Since Harry took his OWLs after his fourth year…"

"… Remus must be a better teacher…"

"… than all the Hogwarts professors together…"

"… so we'll be able to take our NEWTs by Christmas."

Remus could not help blushing at the unexpected praise.

"Of course he is," Sirius agreed before turning to him, "Moony, you will teach the twins, won't you?"

"Of course," Remus confirmed, smiling at the twins. _'They're really amazing,'_ he thought, wondering what they were planning to do after finishing their NEWTs. _'Well, I'll ask them another time,_ ' he resolved, knowing that everyone was still quite fed up from the trial.

 **Lily**

To Lily's absolute delight, Remus did not transform during the following full moon, which he once again spent in the safe room just to be certain that the cure which had prevented him from transforming the last time only had to be taken once.

 _'We did it,_ ' Lily thought, happily. _'I just wish I could go back to the time of the founders and properly thank Salazar. The question is what I'm going to do now. Perhaps I should brew as many batches of the cure as possible and sell them to St. Mungo's.'_

"Lily," Remus suddenly addressed her in a soft voice, as he stepped into the room. "I just went to Hogwarts and asked Poppy to check on me and confirm that the lycanthropy is gone. She promised to speak with the Ministry of Magic to get me off the werewolf list and also inform St. Mungo's. Head healer O'Brien, who is a good friend of Poppy, will probably contact you soon."

"All right," Lily replied, smiling.

As soon as the following morning, the headline of the Daily Prophet screamed in red letters:

 ** _'A future without werewolves_**

 ** _Long lost cure for lycanthropy found by Lily Potter'_**

Below was a photograph of Remus holding a certificate stating that he had been cured from lycanthropy.

Lily let out a groan. "Oh well, such publicity is not what I wanted though," she said, sighing, causing everyone surrounding the breakfast table to laugh.

"Oh well, Mum, you can't brew the wolvescure, for which Potions masters researched over centuries, and not become famous because of it," Harry replied in apparent amusement.

Only too soon, Lily should realise that her son had been absolutely correct. Mere two days later, Healer O'Brien from St. Mungo's contacted her and asked her to brew as many batches of the wolvescure as she could, promising that the Ministry of Magic would pay her 1,000 Galleons for each dose.

Lily quickly wrote a letter back, confirming to brew the potions and send them to Healer O'Brien's hands, and just twenty hours later, in the morning of Harry's birthday, the Daily Prophet informed everyone:

 ** _'Lily Potter receives Order of Merlin 1st class for curing werewolves'_**

She gratefully accepted Hermione's and Draco's offers of assistance, and during the next few weeks, she busied herself in the Potions lab together with her two assistants, feeling extremely happy to be able to help so many innocent people by curing them from a horrible disease.

 **Draco**

Brewing the wolvescure together with Lily and Hermione, Draco thoroughly enjoyed himself. However, the thought of returning to Hogwarts, especially under what his friends had described as a bitch of a headmistress, who certainly would be less able to protect him from Death Eaters than Dumbledore, was not appealing at all.

A few weeks before the beginning of the new school year, he summoned his courage and addressed Lily, when everyone was gathered for dinner. "Would it perhaps be possible for me to remain here and become your apprentice?"

"Sure, why not?" Lily replied in a soft voice. "As a Potions Mistress, I am entitled to take apprentices, and if that really is what you want, I'm willing to teach you."

"Are you sure that you don't want to return to Hogwarts?" Sirius enquired, giving him a sharp look.

"Yes," Draco confirmed, nodding affirmatively. "First of all, I don't think that I'd really feel safe at Hogwarts anymore, and secondly, I really like brewing potions, and Lily seems to be a wonderful teacher."

"That's true," Hermione concurred, smiling.

 _'I'm going to miss the others, when Susan, Hermione and the twins are going to return to Hogwarts though,'_ Draco thought, feeling extremely strange at the idea of missing a muggleborn know-it-all and blood traitors.

 **Harry**

While his mother and Draco prepared everything for his former classmate's apprenticeship, Harry began his training with the Unspeakables.

When he arrived for work on the first of August, Raros was already waiting for him in front of the fireplace.

"Are you ready?" he asked him, causing Harry to nod in excitement.

"Let's go into my office then," the Unspeakable continued and led him into his office and further through a connecting door into the adjacent office.

 _'I'm going to get my own office,'_ Harry thought in disbelief, eyeing the room in amazement. It was equipped with a large desk and a comfortable looking leather chair as well as a small group of comfortable looking chairs surrounding a small table. Everything was kept in black, while the walls were painted in a dark blue tone. _'Still, this office is very bright,'_ Harry thought in surprise, before he realised that the ceiling was charmed to display the sky, flooding the room with day light.

"This will be your office for the time being," Raros informed him and opened a side board that contained a pile of robes. "We always wear our Unspeakable robes. Only when we're in our own office, we may take the head part down. No one, not even the other Unspeakables, must see your face. Only if you know a colleague very well and deem him trustworthy, you may inform him of your true identity. In your case, only our boss, Croaker, and I know who you are outside of our world. You will also receive an Unspeakable name like everyone else here, but we'll decide on that after knowing what kind of Animagus you're going to become."

 _'Animagus?_ ' Harry thought, staring at his mentor, wide-eyed. _'How cool is that?'_

If he had expected his work to be somehow similar to that of an Auror, he was completely mistaken. After introducing him to his colleagues as his new apprentice, Raros took him to his first lesson, where he was taught to apparate, however, it was different from the usual Apparition.

"It's more like the elves' kind of popping," Raros informed him. "You can even pop in and out of Hogwarts. However, you must not forget to remain invisible at such occasions," he instructed him.

"Yes sir," Harry confirmed his understanding.

He also had lessons in Occlumency, Legilimency, Telepathy and Defence and was utterly exhausted, when he was allowed to return to Raros' office late in the afternoon.

"I just want to show you the library," Raros informed him and led him to the Unspeakables' extensive library, where several colleagues were doing all kinds of research. "You're going to spend much time here as well," his mentor told him.

Harry let his eyes wander around the large room, which could well rival the Hogwarts library, in amazement. _'This would be a treasure trove for Hermione,'_ he thought, knowing that he could not tell the girl about it.

Back in the office, Raros said, "You did very well today, Harry. I'll see you in the morning. If you have time, please think about what animal you'd like to become. As soon as you've decided, we'll begin with your Animagus training and we'll also be able to decide on your name."

"Yes sir, thank you so much for everything, sir," Harry replied, smiling, as he headed to the fireplace, thinking of how faster he would be home when he managed to pop himself.

HP

 _'What an exciting day,'_ he thought, when he crawled into bed late at night. _'Raros and the other Unspeakables are really nice, and I'm going to learn so many useful things. It's just totally amazing._ '

He was just about to drift off to sleep, when he heard a strange sound and opened his eyes again – only to stare at the foot of his bed in shock. A large bird similar to Professor Dumbledore's phoenix was perched on the foot of his bed, looking at him from large, bright eyes.

"Hello there," Harry greeted the phoenix. "What are you doing here?"

The phoenix let out a series of trills, before it flew down onto the floor and transformed.

 _tbc..._


	20. Chapter 20

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

All of a sudden, a very old witch was standing in front of him.

"Hi Harry," she said in a soft voice, casting him a bright smile, which Harry recognised immediately.

"Ceridwen?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes my dear, it's me," she admitted. "After you returned to the future, the Founders and I couldn't wait to meet you again, so we intensely researched about possibilities to travel through time, before Godric finally advised me to become a sand phoenix Animagus."

"A sand phoenix?" Harry asked, incredulously. "I didn't know that there was such a thing. The only phoenix I know is Fawkes, and he's…" He cast the old witch a helpless look.

"Fawkes is a fire phoenix," Ceridwen supplied. "A sand phoenix is not as beautiful as a fire phoenix or an ice phoenix which is completely white, but it's able to travel through the sands of time."

"So you became a sand phoenix," Harry stated in surprise, wondering if he would manage to achieve such a transformation. "Err, sorry, but how long did it take you to become an Animagus?" he asked, causing Ceridwen to chuckle.

"Not so long. Just a little more than a year," she admitted. "I was just planning to travel to the future to inform you and fetch you, when you showed up, stating that my older self had visited you and told you to become a sand phoenix Animagus as well. So I knew I had to come to you to advise you, when I was really old," she explained, grinning broadly.

"Thanks so much," Harry replied, returning the smile. "So, what do I need to do to become a sand phoenix?"

During the following hour, Ceridwen explained in detail how she had practised the Animagus transformation and finally succeeded. "Please practise every day, but don't practise just by yourself. Someone should always be with you in case you get stuck between your forms."

"The Unspeakables told me that I'm going to have Animagus training," Harry admitted. "In fact, I was supposed to decide on a possible Animagus form until tomorrow morning," he added, smiling.

Ceridwen laughed. "Ah, that's why you manged the transformation so fast. You have brilliant teachers. Just keep practising and visit the Founders as soon as you can. They have lots of things to teach you."

"Take care, Ceridwen, and thanks so much for coming. I really appreciate it, and I'll practise hard, as I can't wait to see you and the Founders again," Harry replied, observing how the old lady cast him a knowing look, before she easily transformed into her sand phoenix form.

#See you soon, Harry,# she trilled, before she flashed away in a small mist of sand.

 **Fred and George**

While Lily, Hermione and Draco busied themselves in the lab brewing many batches of the wolvescure, Harry spent his days at the Unspeakables office, and everyone else was teaching Dudley in order for him to attend fifth year classes, the twins occupied the other side of the lab.

They spent much time inventing all kinds of prank potions in order to possibly pull through with a plan, which they had made years ago: Having their own joke shop.

Usually, they tried out their inventions on the others, preferably on Sirius and Remus, knowing that the Marauders were the best to understand their attempts.

One day, Sirius cornered them, after their potion had made him and Remus transform into baboons. "The two of you are truly brilliant," he told them, glancing around as if to make sure that they would not be overheard. "Why don't you use your abilities in a professional way?"

The twins smirked at each other.

"Ah but Sirius…"

"… That's exactly what we're planning…"

"… to open our own joke shop," they informed him, causing the Marauder to stare at them with apparent interest.

"I'll help you," he promised, quickly. "I'll give you the starting capital for your joke shop."

Now it was the twins who could not help staring at the older wizard.

"Really?" they enquired, for once speaking simultaneously.

"Of course," Sirius replied, grinning broadly. "Marauder's promise. You'll be ready to begin working next summer, right?"

"Yes…"

"… That would be brilliant," the twins confirmed, thinking that they had found the jackpot.

 **Harry**

"A sand phoenix?" Raros enquired in apparent surprise. "What exactly is a sand phoenix?"

Harry inwardly chuckled, knowing that he had never heard of that species either before the previous evening. "A sand phoenix is a phoenix, which has brown and white feathers and is able to flash through the sands of time," he explained, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that sounds amazing. Are you sure that such a bird really exists?" his mentor asked, sternly.

"Yes sir, I've met one before," Harry confirmed, smiling, before he hesitantly told Raros the truth about Ceridwen's visit to his bedroom the previous evening.

"You'll be able to travel to the time of the founders of Hogwarts," Raros stated more than he asked in clear excitement. "That might be the clue."

 _'For what?'_ Harry wondered, however, did not dare voice his question.

"As I told you, when you came here the first time together with your father and Sirius," Raros nevertheless began to explain, "that there seems to be a Horcrux behind your scar."

"Yes sir," Harry replied, wondering what that had to do with a possible time travel.

"Well, so far, we haven't come up with a way to destroy the Horcrux without killing you," Raros continued. "Neither have the goblins. Therefore, I'd love to send you to the past and ask Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw about the matter. If anyone will be able to help us, it'll be them."

"Oh, all right," Harry said in understanding and promised, "I'll try hard to manage the Animagus transformation."

"Please do so," Raros emphasized. "As for your Unspeakable name, I suggest Gobi. Will that be agreeable with you?"

"Yes sir, of course," Harry replied, quickly, efficiently hiding his disappointment at being named after a desert instead of some old wizard.

 **Hermione**

 _'Lily would make a brilliant Potions teacher,'_ Hermione thought for the umpteenth time, when she magically cleaned their workspace after a long day of brewing many batches of the wolvescure. Even if they had to brew the same potion over and over, Hermione thoroughly enjoyed herself, surprised to still be able to learn new things on a daily basis. _'I wished Snape would retire, so that Lily could become the Potions Mistress at Hogwarts,'_ she thought, letting out a long sigh.

"Mione, is everything all right?" Draco enquired, giving her a questioning look.

"Yes, of course," Hermione reassured her friend, smiling, before she quickly shared her thought with the boy.

"Yes, that's true," Draco admitted. "He makes a good head of house though. Oh well, it doesn't concern me anymore anyway," he added as an afterthought.

"Thank you, both of you," Lily, who had overheard their conversation, spoke up. "I don't think that Professor Snape plans to retire anytime soon though. Are you looking forward to returning to Hogwarts?" she then asked Hermione, giving the girl a questioning look.

"On the one hand yes," Hermione admitted, "on the other hand, I'm going to miss Harry, Draco and all the adults here, who have become somewhat like a large family to me. I'm looking forward to having Dudley at Hogwarts though."

"I hope he's going to get along," Draco spoke up. "As long as he won't be sorted into Slytherin, he should be all right though."

Too soon for Hermione's liking, the first half of August passed, and she had to return home, as her parents wanted to spend the last two weeks of the summer holidays with her travelling to the South of France.

 **Dudley**

' _I hope everyone at Hogwarts will be as nice as the people of Harry's family here,'_ Dudley thought, when he busied himself packing his belongings for the school year. Tomorrow was the big day, when he was going to travel to Hogwarts together with Susan, the twins and Hermione, whom they were going to meet at the station. _'Too bad that Harry and Draco won't go with us,'_ he thought, having gotten used to his cousin and his blond friend during the summer.

Amelia had organised a test in the core subjects for him, which he had taken during the previous week, and to his great relief, he had been able to do well enough for the teachers at Hogwarts to decide for him to attend fifth year classes. ' _At least I'm going to be together with Hermione and Susan,'_ he thought in relief. _'Now I only have to see that I get into either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.'_

During the train ride, the twins entertained the three fifth-years with new prank ideas and funny stories from their previous years at Hogwarts, and before Dudley knew what happened, he found himself standing in front of the teachers' table waiting to be sorted. Unfortunately, he had to wait until all the new first years had been sorted, before Professor McGonagall called out, "Evans, Dudley."

 _'Oh, this is as difficult as it was with your cousin,'_ he heard a faint voice speak into his mind. _'You're the heir of two Founders, so it'll be either Slytherin…'_

 _'Noo,'_ Dudley quickly interrupted the Hat's musings, ' _please place me together with either Susan or Hermione.'_

 _'Oh well, that doesn't sound like Slytherin,_ ' the Hat decided and shouted into the Hall for everyone to hear, "Hufflepuff."

Tearing the Hat off his head, Dudley walked over to the Hufflepuff table, feeling extremely relieved to see that Susan had reserved a seat for him next to her own.

"Welcome to Hufflepuff," she whispered to him, smiling.

"Thanks," Dudley replied, returning the smile, while Susan began to introduce him to her friends.

 **Fred and George**

On the one hand, the twins were glad to be back at Hogwarts and able to meet with their friends and try out their newest inventions on the Slytherin first years, however, on the other hand, they already missed the presence of the Marauders, who always took the time to discuss their new prank potions and pulled them into interesting stories every now and then. Compared to their company, Hogwarts had become just a little boring.

At least, they were going to have the new headmistress first thing in the morning, whom they had already decided to greatly dislike just after Dumbledore's trial. Her impression at the welcoming feast had not been any better, and they decided unanimously, ' _We're going to try out a few pranks on her.'_

However, they did not even get the chance to do such a thing. During their Defence Against the Dark Arts class, the professor explained how she intended to teach their class, causing a huge uproar among the seventh year Gryffindors.

"How are we supposed to fight Voldemort…"

"… if we don't practise something like duels here?" the twins enquired, angrily, and most of their classmates agreed.

"Voldemort is dead," the bitch of a teacher had the gall to reply.

"He's not…"

"He's back…"

"… which we know from Draco Malfoy…"

"… who was present when he was resurrected," the twins informed her, causing the teacher to take 100 points from Gryffindor.

"Detention tonight in my office," Umbridge hissed, as she dismissed the students.

When the twins headed to the headmistress' office after dinner, they were well prepared for their detention, or at least that was what they thought. They were equipped with two multi colouring quills, which were going to change any text written with them into the reader's favourite colour, a potion that was going to make the consumer unable to properly speak but sing instead for twenty-four hours and a chocolate frog, which they had cursed with an infinite duplicating charm that would activate as soon as they were going to release the frog from its stupor.

However, their detention seemed harmless in the first place.

"Write this sentence two hundred times," the teacher instructed them, placing small piles of parchments in front of them.

The twins exchanged a glance, instantly deciding to use their multi colouring quills, when the professor pointed to two identical, strange looking quills, which she had laid out for them. "Use these," she instructed them in a falsely friendly voice.

Two hours later, two very upset twins left Hogwarts through the entrance doors and headed outside, planning their revenge on the bitch of a headmistress as they went.

 **Harry**

"I just don't get it," Harry moaned, as he practised the Animagus transformation over and over only to be able to change his complete body apart from his head.

"You must be patient," Sirius instructed him, causing Draco, Remus and James to chuckle.

"I am patient," Harry emphasized, rolling his eyes at his godfather. "I've been able to change my whole body except for my head for a week now."

"You're the one to talk, Padfoot," James spoke up, grinning. "Harry, he's right though. It took us three years to manage the Animagus transformation, and you've only began to study just a month ago."

Harry let out a deep sigh, before he admitted, "Yes, that's true. I need to manage the transformation as soon as possible though."

"Moreover, it's time for you to go to bed," his father continued to speak. "It's almost midnight, and you have to get up early in the morning."

"As you do," Lily spoke up, giving her husband a reprimanding look.

"I wonder if I'd be able to become an Animagus, too," Remus spoke up in a small voice.

"Yes, do that," Sirius agreed immediately, giving his friend a look of pure enthusiasm.

 _'He really is like a big child,_ ' Harry thought, while everyone else remained pensive for a moment.

"I don't know why it should not work," Lily finally spoke up. "Your magic isn't exactly weak, and now that you aren't suffering from lycanthropy anymore, it shouldn't be a problem.

"What kind of animal would you like to become?" Harry asked with interest.

"I haven't even considered it yet," Remus admitted, smiling. "I'll think about it."

"Very well, let's speak about it again tomorrow. Lily and I should go to bed and work on a different project right now," James spoke up, playfully pulling his wife with him in the direction of the door.


	21. Chapter 21

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Shaking his head at his father's antics, Harry made a short detour to the kitchen, only to stare at the fireplace in disbelief, when it began to flare, just when he crossed the entrance hall.

' _Who's going to come over now?'_ he wondered. _'All who're supposed to know our address are at Hogwarts.'_

A mere instant later, the twins stepped out of the fireplace, seemingly angrier than Harry had ever seen them.

"We're done with Hogwarts…"

"… that bitch of a headmistress…"

"… made us write with blood quills," they told Harry, who could only stare at his friends in shock.

"Gina," he quickly called the head house-elf. "Please tell everyone to return to the Parlour right away, and please serve some tea," he instructed her, suddenly feeling fully awake.

Ten minutes later, everyone was once more assembled in the Parlour, looking at the twins with combinations of confusion and expectation.

 **Fred and George**

When everyone was assembled in the Parlour, the twins informed them about their detention with Umbridge, before turning to Remus to enquire, "Would you mind us studying for our NEWTs here?"

"Of course you can, provided that your parents are all right with it," Remus replied, questioningly.

"They don't have to be…"

"… as we're already seventeen…"

"… and of age anyway," the twins assured the older wizard.

"You could still return to Hogwarts," Amelia spoke up in clear anger. "James and Sirius, please accompany me to Hogwarts right away. We need to question Umbridge under Veritaserum. She won't be headmistress much longer after using a Blood Quill on students."

"Well in that case…"

"… we can as well return to Hogwarts…"

"… as there's no better way…"

"… to test our prank potions," the twins decided.

"Let's go right away," Amelia suggested and, accompanied by James, Sirius and their boss, the twins headed back to the fireplace.

"Floo directly into the headmistress' office," Amelia instructed them, causing the twins to nod in understanding.

Just a moment later, they stepped out of the fireplace of the current headmistress' office, only to realise in shock that they were not able to see anything, as the office was completely flooded with chocolate frogs – from the floor to the ceiling. Unbeknownst to the twins, a couple of chocolate frogs even managed to get away into the fireplace, while the connection was still open.

Inwardly groaning at their predicament, knowing that it was their own fault, because they had caused the mayhem, the twins waved their wands, trying out all possible spells to remove the frogs from the office to no avail.

Finally, they stared at each other in disbelief, when Fred cast Evanesco, which immediately cleared the office of the unwanted, self-duplicating chocolates.

'Where are Amelia, Sirius and James?' Fred thought to George, who gave his brother a confused look.

'No idea,' he thought back to his twin.

All of a sudden, a voice, which they had hoped to never hear again, spoke up. "Erm ehm, what are you still doing here?" Umbridge enquired, before she added, "Oh I see. It's you to whom I owe half a night covered in chocolate frogs. You're expelled from Hogwarts. Go pack your things and return home right away."

"No," the twins replied, simultaneously. "It's you who must leave Hogwarts."

Before they knew what happened, the pink robed witch pointed her wand at them and began to cast an Unforgivable spell. "Cruc…"

"Expelliarmus!" an angry voice shouted from the other side of the room, and the twins along with the headmistress stared to the spot in confusion, just when Harry made himself visible as he caught Umbridge's wand in his left hand.

"Sorry," he apologized to the twins. "Amelia and the others will be here shortly. The Floo network doesn't work anymore. It's completely blocked by chocolate frogs."

A mere instant later, Amelia, Sirius and James burst through the entrance door.

"She just tried to cast Crucio at the twins," Harry informed them, causing Amelia to step over to Umbridge in clear anger.

"Dolores Umbridge, you're accused of having used a Blood Quill on two students and casting an Unforgivable spell," she spoke up in a sharp voice. "What do you have to say to this?"

Umbridge let out a small chuckle. "Ah, these boys are nothing but attention seeking brats and liars," she began to respond, when James pulled a small phial out of his robe pockets.

"Then you won't mind if we question you under Veritaserum," he more stated than asked and, while Sirius held the heavily protesting witch in a firm grip, James forced three drops of the truth serum onto her tongue.

Naturally, she confirmed all accusations during Amelia's interrogation, and five minutes later, Sirius activated a Portkey, which took the evil witch straight to Azkaban.

Amelia looked at Harry and the twins. "Thank you, boys, for your cooperation. I'm afraid that Dumbledore might be going to be reinstated as headmaster though."

"That doesn't matter…"

"… as he was harmless…"

"… compared to that bitch," the twins replied, contentedly.

"Well, since the Floo network is out of order, I believe that we'll just have to return home the way we've come," Amelia said to her Aurors and ushered them out of her office.

"Err Harry…"

"… thanks for coming so quickly…"

"… and just so you know…"

"… the chocolate frogs must have got into the fireplace…"

"… from this office…"

"… as it was flooded, when we arrived," the twins informed their Unspeakable friend.

"Thanks for the information," Harry replied, chuckling, "and thanks for the entertainment. I suppose that the frogs are equipped with a duplicating spell?"

"Of course," the twins assured him, grinning, before their friend took his leave and simply popped away, leaving Fred and George to wonder how they could bribe Harry into teaching him that way of travel, which was only known to the Unspeakables.

 **Hermione**

At breakfast the following morning, Dumbledore was sitting on the headmaster's seat at the breakfast table, while Umbridge was not present at all, causing Hermione to wonder what had happened.

 _'Oh well, I really don't like him because of what he did to Harry,_ ' she thought, _'but at least for everyone else, he's a much better professor than that bitch._ '

She did not have to wonder for a long time, as the twins, who were late for breakfast and chose to take the seats to her left and right, quickly filled her in about the happenings of the evening and night.

"So, she's gone and in Azkaban?" Hermione asked in disbelief, finding the news to be too good to be true.

"Yes," the twins confirmed, grinning broadly.

"Oh thank Merlin, she really was a horror," she breathed in absolute relief.

"You know what we're going to do now?"

"… We're going to see Dumbledore…"

"… about re-hiring Remus as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor," the twins informed her, pleasantly.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea," Hermione agreed, offering, "Shall I go with you and help convincing him?"

However, the twins, having barely touched their breakfast yet, had already left and were on their way to the high table.

 **Remus**

After breakfast, Lily and Draco had retired to the Potions lab, Harry, Sirius, Amelia and James had left for the Ministry of Magic, and Remus was quietly enjoying another cup of tea together with the Potter grandparents and Petunia.

 _'Teaching the children was fun,'_ Remus thought, on the one hand feeling proud that Dudley had managed to get into fifth year and that Harry had taken his OWLs and NEWTs with huge success; however, on the other hand, he missed his classes with them. _'Maybe, I should try to find some work now that I'm cured from lycanthropy; on the other hand, people still know me as a werewolf, so it won't be easy,'_ he thought, letting out a deep sigh.

However, he did not have much time wallowing in dark thoughts, as Petunia pulled him into a conversation about the magical world, sufficiently distracting him from his musings.

He had just left the dining room in order to head to the library, when Dobby popped up in front of him, holding out a small parchment. He thanked the elf and slowly unfolded the letter in curiosity, only to realise that it was from Hermione.

 _'Dear Remus,  
Dumbledore is back as headmaster, and the twins talked him into hiring you as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Please come to Hogwarts and talk to him, and please accept the post. You've been the best teacher we ever had._

 _Hoping to see you soon  
Hermione'_

 _'What?'_ Remus thought in surprise, unwilling to get his hopes up. _'That would be absolutely brilliant.'_

Unfortunately, the Floo network was still out of order, and – according to an article on the front page of the Daily Prophet – the ministry was feverishly working on getting it back to work, so that he could only apparate to Hogsmeade and walk up to the castle.

Fifteen minutes later, he knocked at the headmaster's door.

 **Harry**

 _'Can this day even get worse?_ ' Harry thought, when he learnt from Croaker that he and Raros should try to assist the Aurors with the Floo network, after he had intensely, however, unsuccessfully, practised the Animagus transformation during the morning.

However, by the time he returned home to Potter Manor, he should realise that it, indeed, could get worse.

"Remus has moved to Hogwarts as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor," his mother informed him, James and Sirius.

 _'Too bad that he'll only be able to keep the post for a year,'_ Harry mused. As much as he missed Remus at the Manor, he knew that his good friend would be extremely happy to be back to teaching classes. _'If I only managed to finally transform my head,'_ he thought, _'then I could travel to the time of the founders of Hogwarts and ask them what to do to cancel Voldemort's curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position.'_

However, as much as Harry practised to change his head into his phoenix form, encouraged by his family, friends and colleagues, it took him another eight months, before he finally managed the task.

HP

It was on a warm and sunny Saturday at the end of May, which the extended family spent in the park of Potter Manor, when Harry once again practised the Animagus transformation while talking to the others. Everyone was already used to the fact that Harry transformed his whole body except for his head in the middle of their conversations. However, everyone stared at the sand phoenix with a combination of shock and amazement, when Harry suddenly stopped talking and completely transformed.

"Harry, you did it," James blurted out in clear amazement.

"Congratulations, son," Lily added, smiling.

#Thanks,# Harry trilled, feeling extremely happy. He excused himself and spent the rest of the afternoon practising walking on his tiny phoenix feet, flying through the park and flashing from one side of the lake to the other. It was almost dinner time, before he felt completely comfortable in his phoenix form.

While he was eating dinner together with his family, a sudden thought pushed itself to the front of his mind. ' _I'm going to travel to the past right away,_ ' he decided. ' _If I go right away, it gives me some leeway to time my return between now and tomorrow evening._ ' He hesitantly voiced his idea, causing everyone to view him in apparent concern.

"Harry, wouldn't it be better if you tried flashing, for example, to Hogwarts in this time first, or maybe even to tomorrow morning, before you flash yourself one thousand years into the past right away?" Lily asked in a faint attempt to caution him.

"Yeah, maybe that's true," Harry replied, pensively.

Knowing that Raros usually spent even the weekends in the Unspeakables office, even if he did not allow Harry to do so, stating that he needed enough time to rest, Harry decided to flash to the Ministry of Magic first. He flashed right into his own office, letting out an excited trill of relief, when it worked.

"Gobi?!" Raros exclaimed in clear surprise, having heard the beautiful phoenix song through the open door. "You did it. Congratulations my boy."

#Thank you,# Harry trilled, happily, not caring that his boss would not be able to understand his trills. He quickly changed back into his human form, grinning broadly.

"Raros, I just meant to tell you," he hesitantly began to explain the reason for his visit on a Saturday evening, "I intend to travel to the time of the founders of Hogwarts right away, and I'll try to be back tonight or tomorrow. I just meant to warn you in advance in case I don't manage to get back at the exact time."

Raros cast him a smile. "Understood, little one. Just be very careful and try to be back soon or everyone is going to be very worried."

"I know," Harry agreed, "and yes sir, I'll do my best."

"Don't forget to speak with Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw about the Horcrux," Raros reminded him, causing Harry to nod.

"Yes sir, I know. That's one of the reasons why I want to travel as soon as possible," Harry admitted, before he transformed back into his phoenix form and returned home, deciding to get a good night's sleep before travelling.

After breakfast the following morning, Harry informed everyone about his plan and, after enduring hugs and kisses from his large family, he finally transformed into his phoenix form.

"Be careful that you arrive at the right time and don't meet the Dark Lord," he heard Draco tell him, right before he flashed away in a small mist of sand.

HP

Harry made sure to arrive right in front of the castle intending to arrive on the first of June in the year 996, reasoning that exactly one thousand years would be good in order to keep track of the times to which he travelled.

 _'That's it,'_ he mused, Draco's last words still resounding in his mind, when he slowly transformed into his human form. _'That might work out better than any other plan._ '

 _tbc..._


	22. Chapter 22

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Before Harry could more thoroughly think about his idea, the large entrance doors opened, and Ceridwen stood in front of him.

"Harry," she greeted him with apparent enthusiasm.

"Hi Ceridwen," Harry replied, thinking, _'Thank Merlin, I managed to arrive at the correct time.'_

"Let me take you to Godric's office," Ceridwen continued, smiling. "The teachers are just having a meeting there."

The four founders seemed as thrilled as Ceridwen to see Harry.

"Ah, you're back," Godric was the first to speak, while the ladies put down their tea cups before turning to view him. "That's good. We have much to teach you. In fact, it's a good timing that it's just the beginning of the summer holidays, so that we're going to have much time to teach you."

 _'Oh well, I need to be back tomorrow, but it doesn't really matter how long I'm going to remain here in the past,_ ' Harry thought, regretting that he had not pondered the matter beforehand. _'I didn't even bring clothes with me,'_ he realised, inwardly groaning.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, feeling his cheeks redden, as everyone stared at him in clear surprise. "I didn't intend to stay long and didn't bring anything with me, not even a change of clothes."

"That doesn't matter at all," Helga quickly reassured him. "You wouldn't be able to run around in your clothes from the future anyway. I'm sure we'll be able to help you out or transfigure something for you."

"There's no need to be embarrassed at all, considering that all of us are your grandparents," Rowena added, smiling.

"Thank you very much," Harry replied, inwardly sighing in relief.

HP

The founders put up a thorough schedule for Harry. Every morning, he had two hours of Defence class with Godric and Salazar, and even after his Defence studies with Remus and Duelling lessons with the Unspeakables, he realised that training with Godric and Salazar was extremely hard in comparison. ' _I wonder how I got an O in my Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL and NEWT,_ ' he thought, when he let himself sink onto the floor in exhaustion after his first Defence class.

After Defence, Helga taught him Healing, which was just a normal subject in their time. Even knowing that it would probably not really help him in his fight against Voldemort, Harry found the class extremely interesting, especially since Ceridwen chose to join him and her sister on a daily basis.

After lunch, Salazar taught him Potions, and, recalling how Salazar had instructed Lily how to cure the werewolves, Harry was very interested in the matter, wondering if there might be other potions which were lost in his own time. In contrary to Professor Snape, who had always ridiculed him in his Potions class at Hogwarts, Salazar apparently deemed him adept enough for him to bother teaching him, especially upon realising that Harry could read Parselscript and thus was able to follow his written instructions.

From Rowena, Harry did not only learn interesting Charms and spells, which she had mostly invented herself, but she also showed him a lot of memories from her visions.

"Rowena," Harry asked in disbelief, after watching a short memory, "are you sure that it's going to happen like this?"

"No," Rowena replied in a soft voice, eyeing him in what seemed to be concern. "Why, my dear boy?"

Harry let out a long sigh. "Because it seems too easy," he finally admitted. "Hermione and Draco just cast a spell at Voldemort, whatever it is, before I spell a potion into his stomach, and he dies?" he asked, incredulously.

Rowena sighed. "Most of my visions, which I had about the building of Hogwarts and such, turned out to be correct. Therefore, I believe that it might occur this way, provided that you don't change the future in any way."

"Oh, that reminds me of something," Harry recalled what Draco had said right before his travel. "I could travel to the time when Voldemort was a baby and either kill him or take him with me to the future for my Mum to raise him," he explained, giving his many times great grandmother a questioning look.

Rowena remained pensive for a couple of minutes, before she replied, "Harry, I wouldn't recommend to do such a thing. You'd change the future greatly and not necessarily only for the better. Other dark lords could come up due to the lack of Voldemort in the time of your parents. If the future remains the way it is, we at least have a solution to the problem."

"That's true," Harry admitted, deciding to follow his many times great grandmother's advice.

"I don't know what spell your friends cast at Voldemort, and I'm not sure what kind of potion you use to finally kill him," Rowena said, pensively, "however, I believe that this vision is the key to everything, and we'll watch it together with my husband and my colleagues in order to explicitly find out the details. We also need to get rid of the Horcrux behind your scar, but that's not a problem. Godric will be able to do so. Are you ready to watch two more memories?" she then suggested, only to add, "They're from the time after you get rid of Voldemort though."

"Of course," Harry agreed in surprise, which even intensified after following his grandmother into the Pensieve.

The first scene took place on the Hogwarts grounds, and the whole school was assembled to watch a wedding. _'It's my own wedding,'_ he realised in excitement, as he observed how Godric Gryffindor wed himself to his bride. However, only when Godric declared them husband and wife and allowed him to kiss her, was he able to look into her face, realising that it was Hermione.

"Is that real?" he asked in excitement, once they left the Pensieve.

"As long as you don't change the future," Rowena informed him, smiling. "Ready for one more vision?" she asked, causing him to automatically follow her into the Pensieve again.

The memory took place in the headmaster's office, where Harry was impatiently waiting in his phoenix form. #Let's go already,# he trilled in annoyance, just before Hermione and two small children approached him to grab his tail feathers. "Let's go see Granddad Godric," one of the children shouted, before Harry flashed away, and the memory ended.

"Why are we at Hogwarts?" Harry wondered aloud. Looking at his grandmother, he said, "So I'm going to marry Hermione, and we'll have two children," only to add in a small voice, "I haven't even had the courage to ask her to become my girlfriend."

Rowena chuckled. "Get on with it then, young man. As you can see from my visions, she's surely going to accept."

 _'That's true,'_ he thought, feeling slightly relieved and happy at the same time.

"There's one more thing that I'd like to ask you," Harry quickly changed the topic and told his grandmother about the curse that Voldemort had placed on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position.

Rowena considered the matter for a moment, before she decided, "Let's go and speak with Hogwarts about the matter. Maybe she has an idea how to cancel the curse."

HP

To Harry's relief, the matter of the curse could be resolved easily, as Hogwarts informed him that she could simply interfere and cancel the curse. Harry should merely tell her when he wanted her to remove the curse, and her older self would gladly do him the favour.

"Thank you very much," Harry thanked the castle profoundly, resolving to flash right to Hogwarts, when he returned to his own time.

Unfortunately, the founders could not come up with a spell to remove the Horcrux from behind Harry's scar during the next few weeks, and at the end of the summer holidays, Rowena instructed him to return to the future for the time being.

"Come back next summer, and by then we'll probably have a solution," she instructed him, and Godric and Salazar nodded their agreement, promising at the same time that they would research the spell as well as the potion that Harry and his friends would need to get rid of Voldemort.

 _'This is really unsettling,'_ Harry thought in disappointment, when he readied himself to flash back to the future, feeling extremely grateful, when the founders informed him that they were going to reserve his room in the founders' quarters for him and that he was very welcome to bring Hermione with him, provided that he practised flashing together with another person before travelling over a millennium.

HP

Finally, Harry flashed back to the future, determined to arrive in his own room in the founders' quarters at Hogwarts in the evening of the day, on which he had left. Letting out a relieved sigh upon realising that he had perfectly timed his travel, he transformed back and headed straight to the Parlour of the founders' quarters, the only room, where he could freely communicate with Hogwarts without putting his hand against the wall.

"Hogwarts, I'm back," he informed the castle, who greeted him with apparent enthusiasm.

"You did that time travel very well, my boy," she told him, causing Harry to smile. _'Compared to the past, she sounds like a gentle, old lady in this time,'_ he thought in amusement.

"Hogwarts, I came to ask you if you could please remove the curse from the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, so that Remus Lupin will be able to remain on the position a long time," he hesitantly spoke up.

"I'll do that," Hogwarts promised, before she instructed him, "Will you please bring Professor Lupin here to me and introduce him to me? That way, I can make sure that he will remain on the position and cannot be replaced by anyone else without his or your consent."

"Oh, that would be amazing," Harry blurted out in surprise. "I'll fetch him." Confirming with a glance at his wrist watch that it was already just after curfew, Harry transformed into his phoenix form and flashed right into Remus' quarters, causing the professor to stare at him in shock.

 **Remus**

 _'Three more days, and the school year will be over,'_ Remus mused, as he let himself sink into his favourite arm chair. ' _I just hope that I'll be able to overcome the curse and stay on the position this time.'_

All of a sudden, a light brown phoenix appeared in a small mist of sand, causing him to stare at the bird in surprise.

 _'Did Harry manage the Animagus transformation?'_ was his first thought, however, in an attempt to be careful, he merely greeted the phoenix in a soft voice.

"Hello beautiful, did you want to visit me?" he enquired.

Letting out a small series of comforting trills, Harry quickly changed back, only to apologize and explain something about Hogwarts wanting to get to know him in order to overcome the curse that was still lying on the position.

 _'Oh Merlin, that would be absolutely amazing,'_ he thought, giving Harry a grateful look

"Thank you so much for doing this for me," he stammered in shock.

"Please grab my tail feathers," Harry replied, already changing back into his phoenix form.

Knowing that he could completely trust the boy, Remus did as he was told, and an instant later, they arrived in a beautiful, old room.

"Hogwarts," Harry spoke up in a soft voice, "I brought Remus Lupin, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Hello Professor Lupin," he could hear the voice of a kind, old lady. "Do you wish to remain on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position for a long time?"

"I'd love that," Remus replied, eagerly.

"Then, so mote it be," the castle confirmed, gently. "The curse is now broken, and no one will be able to remove you from the position against your will."

Remus profusely thanked Hogwarts, before Harry enquired if it was all right to flash him back to his rooms. "I'm just on my way back from the time of the founders, and everyone will be eagerly awaiting my return," he explained, causing Remus to agree immediately.

A minute later, he found himself back in his favourite armchair, and Harry was gone, making him wonder if the whole event had only been a nice dream.

 **Lily**

At Potter Manor, Lily, James, Sirius, Amelia, Draco, Petunia and the Potter grandparents were assembled in the parlour having tea. Sirius had suggested heading out into the park to play Quidditch; however, everyone seemed to be too worried about Harry to really relax.

 _'I just hope that he'll be all right and will return here during the next twenty-four hours,'_ Lily thought. After losing her baby to a fifteen-year-old teenager just a year ago, she had become very much used to her big son, who was not attending Hogwarts and thus returned home every evening. _'I really miss him,'_ she admitted to herself.

"Don't worry, Lily, Harry is brilliant. I'm sure he'll be back soon," James whispered, comfortingly, apparently knowing that she was very susceptible to mood swings, now that their second child was going to be born in a couple of weeks.

"I hope so," Lily replied, feeling very much consoled by James' comfort.

All of a sudden, she felt a mist of sand, before she even saw the beautiful phoenix sitting in the middle of the table.

"Get off the sandwiches," Sirius growled, causing the phoenix to quickly do a large jump sideward.

"Easy Harry," James spoke up, grinning. "Just jump off the table and transform back."

A moment later, Harry slipped into the seat next to her, allowing her to pull him into a bear hug.

"Sorry for that," he apologized, as soon as Lily released him.

"Now tell us everything," James demanded, causing Harry to sigh.

"The only good thing I have to report is that Hogwarts took the curse off the Defence Against the Dark Arts position and ensured that Moony can remain on it as long as he wishes," Harry informed the older wizards and witches. "Everything else was crap, and they didn't have a clue how to help me," he added in a barely audible voice.

Unaware of the fact that Draco eyed him in concern, Harry told everyone about his two-month stay in the time of the founders and classes with the four founders.

 _'Maybe he knows about other potions, which are lost in our time,'_ Lily thought, as she listened to her son's story in amazement. _'I'll ask him about what he learned from Salazar tomorrow.'_

 _tbc..._


	23. Chapter 23

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

In the morning, Harry remained in bed for a while pondering his situation. _'So I know that I'm going to defeat Voldemort together with Hermione and Draco,'_ he thought, _'but I neither know the spell nor the potion to do so; moreover, there's still the Horcrux behind my scar. If anything happened to Voldemort now, he was going to possess me.'_ He remained pensive for a while, before an idea crossed his mind.

 _'Perhaps I should return to the past travelling to the following summer right away,'_ he thought _._ However, after pondering the matter for an hour, without any conclusion whatsoever, he decided to speak about the matter with his enlarged family. _'Just a couple of days before Hermione, Susan, Draco and the twins are going to come back home,_ ' he realised. _'We can speak about the matter when they're back.'_

 **Draco**

 _'I wonder if Harry's all right,'_ Draco thought, when Harry did not show up for breakfast. _'It must be totally frustrating for him that he tried to become a phoenix Animagus for almost a year, only to travel to the time of the Founders to learn that they couldn't help him.'_

"Draco, are you going to come?" Sirius' voice brought him back to reality. "We're going to Fairy Alley today."

"Of course; just give me five minutes to write a letter, and then I'll be ready," Draco replied, grinning in anticipation. On most Sunday mornings, he walked over to Fairy Alley in order to meet with his birth mother for a few hours, and sometimes, Sirius and Amelia accompanied him just to visit the magical shopping street. The Potters had even told him to invite his mother to Potter Manor several times, but to his chagrin, his mother had always declined stating that she was not going to leave Fairy Alley.

 **Lily**

When everyone had left the dining room, James pulled his wife with him into the park.

"I've been thinking," he admitted, "and I'd like to hear your opinion, before eventually speaking with Amelia."

Lily smiled at her husband in expectation, knowing that his ideas were often spectacular, especially if they were his own concepts and not ideas resulting from a brainstorming session with Sirius.

"The founders made Harry the owner of Hogwarts from next year onwards, right?" James began to speak, causing Lily to frown.

"I'm not sure from when onwards, but maybe yes," she slowly replied in surprise at his question. "Why?"

"Well, I thought that as the owner, he should have at least some insight about what's going on at the school," James told her. "I know that Moony is at the school, but still. Oh well, I was wondering to ask Amelia if Sirius and I – or at least myself – could spend a year or whatever at Hogwarts in my function as an Auror. To make sure that the school is safe, even if Voldemort is back."

Lily pondered the situation for a moment, before she said, "I believe that's a good idea. Will you remain there overnight as well, or are you going to come back in the evenings?"

James gently laid his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Lils, I won't leave you alone with the baby. I'll be back in the evenings. Maybe sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but I'll come back overnight."

"Well, then you should speak with Amelia," Lily replied, smiling. _'It might be much safer for him to stay at Hogwarts than to go after Death Eaters,_ ' she thought, feeling very much comforted at the idea.

 **Hermione**

 _'Three more days before we're going to go home,_ ' Hermione thought, as she sat down at the Gryffindor table next to the twins. As usual, she had arranged with her parents that she was going straight to Potter Manor and only return home during the last two weeks of the holidays.

 _'Thank Merlin that they've got used to flooing over to the manor ever since Petunia came to live there with the Potters and they're not the only muggles,_ ' she thought, looking forward to the holidays very much.

 _'I can't wait to meet Harry again,'_ she mused. _'I just wished he'd come around and ask me to become his girlfriend. I wished he were mine already.'_

 **Harry**

On Wednesday evening, Remus, Hermione, Susan, Dudley and the twins returned from Hogwarts.

Since they had many stories to tell everyone, Harry decided to postpone speaking about his time with the founders to the next evening.

After dinner, he hesitantly spoke up. "I'd like to speak with you about something. In fact, Rowena showed me a memory about a vision which she had about how we're going to get rid of Voldemort. However, we don't know which spells or potions are involved, and the founders promised to research the matter until the next summer.

He placed his Pensive onto the table and cast a charm on it, which Rowena had taught him a few weeks ago. He only had to think about the memory that he wanted to show, and it appeared above the Pensieve, sparing everyone the trouble to head into the device.

"That's cool," Hermione was the first to realise the effect, causing Harry to smile.

He had decided to only show the others the memory of how Hermione, Draco and he vanquished Voldemort and keep the memories about the time after the war to himself.

"Maybe it's some kind of weakening spell that we cast at the Dark Lord," Draco spoke up, once the memory ended.

"Probably yes," James agreed.

"I was wondering if I should go back to the past right away, however, travel to the next year, so that the founders might already have found out what it is," Harry spoke up in a small voice, only to add, "maybe even together with Hermione and Draco if they'd like to accompany me."

"I'd like that," his two friends replied, simultaneously, causing Harry to let out a small snort.

 _'I didn't expect them to react differently,_ ' he thought in amusement.

However, his mother cast him a sharp look. "No Harry," she spoke up in a firm voice. "When I unobtrusively checked on you this morning, I noticed that you have depleted your magic to a great extent. Apparently, time travel takes a lot of magic, and I can't allow you to travel again so soon, let alone with two passengers. Please wait until next year or at least until the Christmas holidays, before you travel again."

"Yes Mum," Harry grudgingly agreed, inwardly rolling his eyes in annoyance, as a small voice from the back of his mind informed him, _'You wanted to have parents, now get used to their overprotectiveness.'_

 **Lily**

On the first of July, Harry's brother Felix was born. He was a very cute baby and the spitting image of Harry and James.

 _'Thank Merlin that it's in the middle of the summer holidays,'_ Lily thought, gratefully accepting Hermione's and Susan's help. The two girls were very fond of Felix and did not get tired assisting her to care for him.

However, Felix' greatest love was his big brother, although he could only care for the baby in the early morning and evenings, when he was at home. Nevertheless, Harry always received the brightest smiles from Felix.

"He's so cute," Harry told Lily every now and then. "I'm so happy to have a little brother."

"I just hope that I'll be able to raise him until he's a big boy like you," Lily replied, sighing.

"You will," Harry reassured her. "We'll work on getting rid of Voldemort during the next twelve months. He'll be able to grow up here having a large and caring family."

"Harry, I'm so sorry about what happened to you," Lily replied, gently hugging her son, who, to her immense relief, did not flinch back at the lightest touch anymore.

"Mum, it's all right. It's not your fault anyway," Harry replied, gently returning the hug. "Having these experiences, I can appreciate it even more to have you and Dad and granny and granddad as well as lots of aunts and uncles and friends here now. A little brother is just the icing on the cake."

"Thank you, Harry," Lily replied, smiling.

 **Remus**

To his immense relief, Remus managed indeed to remain on the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's position, making the headmaster wonder how he had achieved to break Voldemort's curse.

However, knowing that Harry did not want the headmaster to know anything about him, let alone about his relationship to the founders of Hogwarts, Remus feigned ignorance. _'Well, as the headmaster, he should know that Harry is the first heir to all four founders, but he doesn't seem to bother. He's only interested in Harry's connection to Voldemort,'_ he thought, feeling extremely upset at the old wizard.

When it became clear that James and Sirius would come to Hogwarts to ensure the safety of the students from January onwards, Remus felt delighted. ' _Thank Merlin,'_ he thought. _'The other teachers are much too old, except for Severus, who still behaves like a git, and I really miss my friends, even if Hermione, Susan, Dudley and the twins come to see me from time to time. I wished some of them would be able to take permanent positions at Hogwarts after their NEWTs.'_

During the winter holidays, he discussed the matter with Harry, who told him that he would think about replacing some of the teachers, when Dumbledore was going to resign from the position of the headmaster. "I also don't want to work together with Snape, even if I don't mind McGonagall," the sixteen-year-old told him in a firm voice.

"I'd love to remain at Hogwarts in a teaching position, too," Hermione spoke up, causing Harry to smile.

"Let's see how everything develops," he decided. "First of all, we need to get rid of Voldemort, before we can think about letting Dumbledore and Snape go. Even if I don't know if Snape really is on our side, I don't want to apply great changes to Hogwarts, while Voldemort is still alive and a threat. After getting rid of him, we can think about re-organising Hogwarts."

 **James**

 _'I wished I was a dog like Sirius,_ ' James thought, when he readied himself for his Auror duties at Hogwarts. _'If I was a dog or a cat, I could easily remain in my Animagus form like Padfoot. Maybe it's possible to get a second Animagus form,'_ he mused, knowing that he would not be able to run around Hogwarts in his stag form. _'Well, it can't hurt to try,'_ he thought, deciding to try changing into a dog while roaming the halls at Hogwarts under an invisibility spell. Fortunately, he was capable of wish magic, so that it was not a big deal to turn himself invisible; nevertheless, he preferred to be in an adequate Animagus form.

During the remaining days of the Christmas holidays, he discussed several kinds of dogs with his extended family, and in the end decided on the form of a Crup, the magical version of a Jack Russel terrier.

"I really want to become a small animal," he told Sirius off, who immediately began ridiculing him for becoming a smaller dog than himself. "Leave it, Padfoot. The question is if I manage to become a dog at all," he added, sighing.

"I've never heard of anyone having two Animagus forms," his father spoke up, smiling. "But it can't hurt to try. I don't know a precise reason why it shouldn't be possible either."

"It's a great idea," Harry spoke up. "I'd love to have a dog form, too."

"We could all try together," Hermione agreed, smiling.

"I'm in," Draco added with apparent enthusiasm.

"All right then, I'm going to teach everyone who wants to practise," Harry's grandfather offered, causing Amelia, Hermione, Draco, Susan, Dudley and the twins to eagerly agree.

"I'll join you and try for my second form," Harry decided, grinning.

To James' relief, it took him just a week, before he was able to transform his left hand into the left front paw of a Crup, and by Easter, he had managed the complete transformation. From that point onwards, he did not wish himself invisible anymore but proceeded to roam the castle in his second Animagus form.

Even if Sirius was accepted in his Animagus form, James was outright loved by teachers and students, who kept petting him stating that he was so cute.

About once an hour, however, James headed to the boys' toilets, transformed back into his human form and studied the Marauders' Map in order to check the castle and the grounds as far as they were included in the map.

It was on a Monday evening at the end of May, when he was almost ready to return home, that he saw something strange on the Marauders' Map.

' _Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudolf Lestrange_ ,' he read in a hall on the second floor, not too far from the corridor leading to the headmaster's office.

' _Dumbledore_ ,' he thought, alert, and immediately transformed into his dog form, only to dash through the relatively empty corridors towards the headmaster's office.

He arrived at the gargoyle just on time to see it open for Severus Snape to pass through. James hurried behind his childhood nemesis, wishing himself invisible as he went. Together with the Potions Master, James entered the headmaster's office.

"Severus, how nice to visit an old man on this evening," the headmaster greeted the Slytherin, who merely cast the old wizard a sharp look.

"Albus, the time has come," Snape stated, his face completely void of emotions.

' _What's he going to do?_ ' James wondered in suspicion, inwardly debating if it was necessary to transform back into his human form.

However, before he could make a decision, Snape cast the killing curse at the headmaster, before turning on his heels and hurrying out of the office.

Quickly transforming back, James followed the man, his wand drawn and a stunning spell on his lips.

 _tbc..._


	24. Chapter 24

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Heading over into Raros' office, Harry was just about to inform his boss that he was going to pop home, when a soft voice penetrated his mind.

'Harry, the headmaster has just been murdered. Your presence is required at Hogwarts,' the voice, which Harry recognised as that of the castle, informed him.

"Raros, Hogwarts seems to be under attack," he urgently told his mentor, who cast him a surprised look.

To Harry's relief, Raros did not bother to ask question, but sent a simultaneous emergency message to all Unspeakables before stating, "Let's travel together."

Together with the older Unspeakable, Harry popped right into the corridor leading to the headmaster's office, in a quick succession casting stunning spells at three Death Eaters.

"Come along," Raros hissed to him, and the two wizards ran forward, only to see the next Death Eater ahead.

 _'Snape,_ ' Harry realised, wondering for the umpteenth time if the Potions Master was on their side. To his relief, Raros immediately stunned the professor, apparently deciding to act first and ask questions later.

They almost bumped into James, who came running from the direction of the headmaster's office.

"Dad, what happened?" Harry enquired, making himself visible, as he stepped into his father's way.

"Out of the way," James hissed with apparent urgency. "Snape killed Dumbledore."

"Is that true?" Raros enquired, making himself visible as well, before he informed the Auror that he had already stunned the Potions Master.

In the meantime, a group of Unspeakables had arrived at Hogwarts and roamed the corridors in search of Death Eaters.

"Leave him to me," Raros instructed his colleagues, before he securely attached a Portkey to Snape's wrist. "This one I wish to send straight to Azkaban myself. Auror Potter saw how he killed Headmaster Dumbledore."

 _'Cool that they can send him right to Azkaban,'_ Harry thought in relief, feeling extremely angry at the Slytherin, who had been said to be on their side all these years. _'Dumbledore believed in him,'_ he thought, angrily.

"Harry, are you going to take over as headmaster?" James enquired, causing Raros to nod in approval.

"Do so," the Unspeakable instructed him. "You've more than finished your Unspeakable training, and even as the headmaster you're able to remain a proper Unspeakable, even if you work at a different location."

"All right, then I will," Harry slowly agreed, even if he felt strangely uncertain about the matter. Together with his father and his mentor, he headed into the headmaster's office, feeling slightly relieved that the Aurors had already seen to moving Dumbledore.

Only Fawkes had remained in the office, and when Harry quietly approached the phoenix, he let out a series of happy trills, before he thought right into Harry's mind, #I hope you don't mind that I've just bonded myself to you.#

Harry shook his head, smiling. "No, I love it, Fawkes. Thank you so much for becoming my familiar," he replied, feeling very much reassured by the phoenix' support.

 **Minerva McGonagall**

Minerva was just relaxing in her feline form in front of the fireplace, when a house-elf popped up in front of her. From the one-piece the elf was wearing, which held the Potter crest in large embroidery on the front, it was obvious that the elf was one of the Potters' house-elves.

"I am Gina, the Potter's head house-elf," the elf introduced herself, before she informed the professor that Master Harry would like to urgently speak with her in the headmaster's office.

Minerva hurriedly transformed back into her human form to assure the elf that she was going to see Harry Potter right away, before she changed back into her feline form and made her way through the cat-flap in the entrance door of her rooms.

 _'I wonder why Harry is in Albus' office and why it's him to call me and not Albus himself,_ ' she thought, while she dashed through the empty halls of the castle.

"Liquorice wands," she told the gargoyle after changing back into her human form, once more feeling annoyed that the gargoyle did not understand cat talk. _'It would be so convenient if I could just run along the stairs in my feline form. Oh well, at least Albus didn't change his password again tonight,'_ she thought, rolling her eyes at the thought of how her old friend used to change his password at the most stupid occasions and to even more strange sweets.

When she entered the headmaster's office, she stopped dead in her tracks. Harry Potter was sitting on Albus' chair with Fawkes on his shoulder, and the young man's father, Auror Potter, was occupying one of the visitor chairs.

"What's the meaning of this?" she asked, crisply. "What happened?"

"Good evening, Professor," Harry greeted her in a soft voice. "Thank you very much for coming so quickly."

"Snape saw fit to kill Dumbledore," James Potter spoke up, giving her a sharp look.

"What?" Minerva blurted out, horrified. "I hope you're only joking," she stammered, looking from James back to Harry, finally eying Fawkes, who chose that time to let out a series of soft trills.

"It's true, Fawkes, isn't it?" she more stated than asked, when realisation set in. "I told Albus to not trust Severus, but he insisted…" She slowly trailed off, not able to keep the tears back.

"Professor, we won't keep you long tonight," Harry began to speak in a soft voice, which automatically made her look in his direction. "I just wanted to inform you that the four founders of Hogwarts have issued a declaration that makes me the rightful owner of Hogwarts from this year onwards. Until now, I've waited to see how thing were going to develop, however, on this occasion, I've decided to take over as headmaster. There are several changes, which I wish to apply, however, I'd like to discuss everything with you in advance, provided that you're willing to remain the deputy headmistress."

Minerva smiled, although she still felt like crying. "I will, Harry," she assured the young wizard. "I'll be happy to assist you."

"Thank you very much," Harry replied, smiling. "Since it's the weekend anyway, I suggest that we meet again here tomorrow morning right after breakfast. I'll join you at the head table for breakfast and will announce Dumbledore's murder to the students and colleagues."

"We urgently need a new head of Slytherin," Minerva replied, her thoughts going haywire.

"Do we have any teacher, who has been in Slytherin?" Harry enquired, causing Minerva to shake her head.

"How about Remus?" Harry suggested. "As far as I've heard, he gets along well with everyone. Maybe even the Slytherins will respect him. Or my mum, as she's going to become the new Potions Mistress."

"Both of them would be equally adequate to become the Slytherin head," Minerva assured the boy, before she took her leave, promising to meet Harry at breakfast the following morning.

 **Harry**

 _'If not for that stupid Horcrux, I could even ask Voldemort to become the Slytherin head and kill him as soon as he enters the grounds,'_ Harry thought, when the professor had left the office.

Seeing his father and Raros, who chose that moment to make himself visible, give him questioning looks, Harry voiced his idea, causing James to reluctantly nod.

"Perhaps you should just travel to the founders right away," he suggested.

Harry remained pensive for a moment, before he decided, "I'll do that. Perhaps I could ask Professor McGonagall if she wants to accompany me. I planned to take Hermione and Draco, but that's not really possible during the school year now, is it?"

"Ask McGonagall first. You don't have to stay very long," James advised him. "Now however, I suggest that we return home. Are you going to ask your mother to become the Potions professor?"

Harry nodded. "I'll ask her. I don't know if she'll agree though, considering that Felix isn't even a year old yet."

HP

"You could make it one of your first tasks as the headmaster to found a primary school along with a kindergarten and a nursery on the Hogwarts grounds," Lily suggested, once Harry and James had returned home and Harry had offered her the position.

"I'll do that," Harry promised, turning to Draco. "Would you mind returning to Hogwarts? We could all live in the founders' quarters together, and I'll see to it that one of the elves will check your mail, so that no one can send you a Portkey, just in case your father instructs anyone to do anything to you."

"That would be brilliant, Harry, thanks," Draco replied, smiling. "I don't think that he'd be able to do much considering that he's in Azkaban. I don't even know if they're allowed visitors in Azkaban. Anyway, under these conditions, I'm ready to return to Hogwarts together with you and your mother."

"That's good," Harry replied, contentedly, before he excused himself and headed to bed, knowing that he had to be at Hogwarts early enough for breakfast. He was just about to nox the torches, when a sudden thought crossed his mind.

"Gina," he called the head house-elf, "would you please inform the Hogwarts house-elves that I wish all students to be present for breakfast in the Great Hall at exactly eight o'clock tomorrow morning?"

"Of course, Harry," Gina replied, smiling, as she popped away.

 _'Oh Merlin, my former classmates are only sixth-years by now. I wonder if they're going to accept me as the headmaster at all,'_ he mused, as he drifted off to sleep.

 **Hermione**

 _'I wonder what the teachers want,'_ Hermione thought as she tried to recall if it happened before that the elves had woken them up informing them to be at breakfast in the Great Hall at a certain time in the morning. _'I think that's a first,'_ she decided.

When she reached the Great Hall, she registered in surprise that all teachers were already assembled. _'Ah no, Professor Dumbledore is missing,_ ' she realised, _'and Snape, too._ ' Letting herself sink onto a chair at the Gryffindor table, she noticed in disbelief how a small side door behind the high table opened and Harry stepped into the room together with Lily, only to sit between Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout, while Lily took the empty seat between Madam Pomfrey and Professor Flitwick.

 _'Harry and Lily!_ ' Her thoughts went haywire. _'What's Harry going to do? Well, he's the owner of Hogwarts since January, but did he already replace the headmaster? And Lily instead of Snape?_ ' she wondered, looking up in expectation, when Harry began to speak.

"Good morning, dear students and colleagues," Harry addressed everyone, and to her relief, the Great Hall became really quiet, as everyone apparently wished to hear what his announcement was about.

"Yesterday evening, Professor Snape killed Professor Dumbledore," Harry announced, causing huge tumultuous to break out at the house tables.

"Quiet please," Harry spoke in a loud but quiet voice, before continuing, "Snape has been sent to Azkaban. As I am the first heir of all four founders, they made me the owner of Hogwarts from this year onwards. Therefore, I am going to follow Professor Dumbledore as the headmaster. Professor Potter here will be the new Potions Mistress and Potions professor," he continued, while Lily rose from her chair, receiving enormous applause from all house-tables except for the Slytherin table. "As to the Slytherin head of house, I'm going to speak with my colleagues as well as with the Slytherin students in order to find out who would be the best head of Slytherin." Glancing at his wrist watch, he continued, "I have an errand to run this weekend, however, I'll probably be able to call a Slytherin house meeting for Monday evening. I'll inform you at dinner though."

"No," he suddenly corrected himself. "Let's have a house meeting tonight right after dinner in the Slytherin common room. I expect everyone to attend, especially as it is in your own interest. Until we have decided on your new head of house, I will act as the head of Slytherin, which is not strange, as the Sorting Hat originally wanted to place me into Slytherin."

 _'What?_ ' Hermione thought in disbelief, although she knew that it was possible to convince the Hat otherwise, having done the same thing herself, when the Hat had wanted to place her into Ravenclaw.

Receiving huge applause from the Slytherin table for a change, Harry still continued to speak. "We still have one more new face. Draco Malfoy, who has been working as Professor Potter's apprentice for almost two years, will continue his apprenticeship here at Hogwarts. He's not going to return to Slytherin but will have his own room. Mr. Malfoy might take over one or the other class for Professor Potter, and he is entitled to take points off students." With that, he sat back in his seat, and breakfast appeared on the tables.

 _'So Harry and Draco are both back at Hogwarts,'_ Hermione thought, feeling extremely happy at the idea. _'I just hope I'll be able to easily meet with both of them every now and then. Oh right, and Lily is here, too. That's absolutely amazing.'_

 **Harry**

 _'I just hope my meeting with the Slytherins will go as well as that with McGonagall this morning,'_ Harry thought, as he rearranged the old headmaster's office to become his own during the afternoon.

Since it still was the middle of the school year, Harry had decided to not make any more changes to the teachers let alone to the curriculum. _'It's soon enough if we do that during the summer or even next summer after Hermione has taken her NEWTs and Draco his Potions Mastery exam,'_ he resolved.

When he had asked the deputy headmistress if she would like to accompany him to the time of the founders on Sunday morning with the intention to return on the same day, McGonagall had agreed in apparent excitement.

"Harry," Professor Dumbledore suddenly addressed him from his portrait, which had appeared next to the other former headmasters overnight, "please see to it that I'm going to be buried on the Hogwarts grounds."

"I'll speak with Professor McGonagall," Harry replied, pensively, not sure who was going to make such decisions.

"She'll be able to help you greatly, my boy," the old wizard assured him.

 _'Oh Merlin, I just hope he's not going to pull me into conversations every now and then,'_ Harry thought, still not fond of the former headmaster to say the least.

 **Blaise Zabini**

 _'I hope that Potter will recognise our problems and be able to support us like Snape did,_ ' Blaise mused, when he trailed down to the dungeons behind his housemates. _'I wonder whom he's going to install as the head of Slytherin.'_

Entering the common room, he addressed his housemates. "Please give Potter a chance, will you?" He gave the others a sharp look, especially a few of his fellow sixth-years, knowing that some of them had already taken the Dark Mark. _'I wished Draco would return to Slytherin,'_ he thought, on the one hand feeling happy to have his best friend back at Hogwarts, on the other hand disappointed hearing that he was not going to come back to his old house. ' _Maybe we can at least meet in his room,_ ' he thought, resolving to seek Draco out after breakfast the next morning.

Just when everyone was assembled in the common room, the new headmaster entered the room through the portrait hole.

"Good evening," he greeted them in a friendly voice. "Now as you all know, we came here together, because we need a new head of Slytherin. I'm aware of the fact that usually the headmaster simply decides on a head of house, however, in your case, I decided to involve you in this – I have to admit difficult – decision. Do you have any suggestions?"

 _'It's now or never,'_ Blaise thought, raising his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Zabini," Potter called him right away.

"If Draco is able to teach classes, would he be allowed to become our head of house?" Blaise enquired, purposefully ignoring the group of Death Eater sixth-years around Theodore Nott.

"Right now, I can imagine three persons apart from myself as heads of Slytherin," Potter replied, thoughtfully. "These are Draco Malfoy, Remus Lupin and Lily Potter."

A huge discussion followed this announcement, and the headmaster listened for about fifteen minutes, before he cleared his throat, causing everyone to quieten immediately.

"Very well. Please discuss the topic until tomorrow evening. Right after dinner, you may tell me your suggestion, from which I am going to make a decision. I still have another idea, but we'll speak about that tomorrow."

From the corners of his eyes, Blaise saw how Millicent rose from her seat. "Thank you, headmaster, for involving us in the decision."

"Yes sir, we appreciate it," Frank, a third-year student and member of the Quidditch team, added.

"You're welcome, and please believe that I have your best interests in mind," the headmaster replied, before he bade everyone good night and left the common room, causing the discussion to flare up again.

 **Harry**

 _'Oh well, that went as well as it could go,'_ Harry thought, when he returned to the founders' quarters. _'I better go and get some sleep, before time travelling with a passenger in the morning._ ' Pondering his newest idea once more, he thought, _'I just hope that he'll agree. It would be more than amazing, although I'm certain that some people might be very jealous.'_

 _tbc..._


	25. Chapter 25

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

Right after breakfast on Sunday morning, Harry flashed into the past together with Minerva McGonagall, careful to arrive at the beginning of the summer holidays just a year after he had spent the summer in the past.

Although he could not wait to speak with Salazar, he decided to take his guest to Godric first.

"The annoying gargoyle isn't here yet," the professor commented, when they approached the headmaster's office.

"Thank Merlin," Harry replied, dryly, when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Professor, will you please remind me to change the password, once we're back in the future?"

"Sure," the old witch replied, smirking. "Harry, now that we're colleagues, please just call me Minerva," she added, just when they stopped in front of the door to Godric's office.

Godric called them in, before Harry even had to knock. "Harry," he greeted the young wizard with apparent enthusiasm before giving the old witch a questioning look.

"Hi Godric," Harry replied, smiling, "this is Minerva McGonagall, our Gryffindor head of house and the deputy headmistress. I thought you might want to get to know each other."

"Yes, you thought absolutely correctly," Godric informed him, seemingly pleased, as he walked around his desk to greet the future head of his house. "I am very glad to meet you, Professor," he told her.

"The pleasure is on my side, headmaster, and please just call me Minerva," the witch replied, with a rare smile playing on her lips.

"Fawkes," Godric addressed the phoenix, "please call the others."

The phoenix flashed away, only to return five minutes later with Godric's three colleagues in tow, who immediately made a fuss about Harry.

 _'He can flash three people,_ ' Harry thought in amazement. _'Just flashing one is already tiring. Oh well, they didn't travel through time though. Thank Merlin that it seems to be evening, even if we left in the morning. I'm really tired.'_

Inefficiently trying to hide a yawn, he observed the founders and Minerva introduce themselves to each other.

"Harry," Rowena finally turned her attention back to him, "it's good that you came, as we've much to tell you. We've found solutions to the two problems we spoke about last year."

"Thank you so much," Harry replied, suddenly feeling very much relieved.

"I think the child is in dire need of some rest, before we can talk to him about anything," Helga spoke up, giving him a sharp look.

"The 'child' is our headmaster since the day before yesterday," Minerva threw in, smiling fondly at him.

"Really? You're the headmaster now?" Godric blurted out, seemingly happy.

"Yes sir," Harry admitted, suddenly feeling shy in front of the founders.

"Congratulations dear," Rowena was the first to reply. She stepped over, pulling him into a light hug, apparently remembering from the previous year that he did not take hugs too well.

"Nevertheless, flashing through time together with a guest must take a lot of magic, even for a headmaster," Salazar spoke up, giving Harry a what seemed to be proud look. "Go to bed, grandson, and we'll speak about everything in the morning."

Harry agreed and quickly took his leave, feeling reassured that the founders would take good care of his deputy headmistress.

 **Minerva**

 _'I can't believe that I'm here together with the founders of Hogwarts. How Albus would envy me if he knew,'_ she thought, feeling extremely happy to meet the four wizards and witches they all adored so much in spite of not having met them even once.

"Are the two of you going to remain here over the summer?" Godric enquired, looking at her with apparent interest. "We're all willing to teach you whatever you wish to learn."

"No sir." Minerva shook her head. "In our case, the school year is not over yet, and Harry told me that he only wanted to come here for a day to speak with Rowena and ask Salazar something," she explained. "I believe that he intends to come here again during the summer holidays."

Rowena nodded. "Yes, he must bring Hermione and Draco with him, as we have to teach them an important spell," she informed Minerva, before she showed the older witch her visions about Voldemort's demise making the images float over her Pensieve.

"He should bring his mother here again," Salazar spoke up, sounding grumpy. "I'm certain that there are more potions recipes, which are lost in the future. I could well teach her for some weeks."

"Lily is our Potions professor now that our former Potions master, Professor Snape, killed Headmaster Dumbledore and was sent to Azkaban," Minerva informed Salazar. "However, Draco, whom Harry is supposed to bring with him, is her apprentice, and I'm certain that he'd love for you to teach him."

"That's good," Salazar replied, giving her a sharp nod, which somehow reminded her of her former colleague.

 _'I wonder how Snape could fool all of us including Albus for all these years,_ ' she mused. _'I never even suspected him, since Albus was so sure that he was on our side. And then he all of a sudden kills him.'_

 **Hermione**

Sitting near the head table, Hermione waited for Draco to appear. As soon as he entered the Great Hall making a beeline towards the head table, she called him over.

"Draco, come here and have breakfast with me," she invited him, causing the boy to cast her an incredulous look.

"Are you sure that I'm allowed to sit at the Gryffindor table?" he enquired.

"I'm certain, considering who the headmaster is," Hermione replied, grinning, noticing that Lily was observing them from the high table in apparent amusement.

"Very well," Draco replied and lowered himself into the seat next to her. "How are things?" he enquired, giving her a sharp look.

"Fine," Hermione replied, smiling. "I'm so happy to have you and Harry as well as Lily here, even if I'm totally shocked about Snape's betrayal."

"Yes, me too," Draco admitted. "He was my godfather, and even if I knew that he was good friends with my father, I didn't expect him to be a real Death Eater. I thought he was on Dumbledore's side."

"Everyone thought so," Neville spoke up, taking the seat opposite of them. "Who do you think is going to be the new head of Slytherin?"

Draco shrugged, letting out a long sigh. "I'd love to be the head of Slytherin," he finally admitted, "however, not now. Only after taking the mastery exam and after our classmates have left Hogwarts. I know for a fact that several of them are already Death Eaters, and I wouldn't want to be their head of house."

"So next summer then?" Hermione enquired. "Maybe you should speak with Harry and tell him as much," she suggested.

"I'll do so," Draco replied, smiling. "We're all staying in the founders' quarters by the way. Why don't you come and visit us tonight?"

"Oh all right, I'll do that, and I'll bring Susan and Dudley," Hermione promised, looking up in surprise, when Blaise Zabini approached their end of the table. ' _Oh well, don't fret,_ ' she calmed herself. _'Draco once told me that he was his best friend. He won't do anything to him.'_ Smiling, she observed how Draco followed the other boy out of the Great Hall.

 **Harry**

When Harry entered the Great Hall for breakfast in the morning, he realised in surprise that only the founders and Minerva were present.

"Did Ceridwen not stay at Hogwarts over the summer?" he could not stop himself blurting out in disappointment. _'She's always great fun,'_ he thought.

"No, she left together with everyone else to assist my Mum. Our mother is the healer at Hogsmeade, and she wants to train Ceridwen over the summer," Helga explained in a soft voice.

"Oh all right," Harry said in understanding.

"Excuse me, but who is Ceridwen?" Minerva enquired, giving Harry a surprised look.

"Ceridwen is Helga's younger sister, and a very alert, young witch," Rowena informed her, smiling at Harry.

"She's a good friend," Harry confirmed, returning the smile. "Salazar," he then addressed the older wizard, determined to change the topic. "Would you perhaps like to join us in the future for a year in order to take the position of the head of Slytherin?"

Harry realised that everyone stared at him in clear surprise.

"I'd love that," Salazar replied immediately. "The future must be a treasure trove for a Potions Master of my time."

"That it certainly is," Minerva acknowledged, "and you'd be able to study together with Lily Potter. You could teach her potions that are lost in our time and vice versa."

"What about me?" Godric spoke up, seemingly incredulous. "I'd love to be the Gryffindor head one thousand years into the future."

Harry chuckled. "I understand, but you know, all the other houses have their head of house…"

"And we would not mind spending a year solely teaching and not being responsible for a house," Minerva interrupted him. "Godric, you're very welcome to join Salazar, provided that Harry won't mind taking you to the future and back."

"Of course I don't mind," Harry promised, before turning to the female founders. "Helga, Rowena, what about you? Would you care to join your husbands in the future for a year?"

"Someone has to remain here though, we can't leave Hogwarts alone," Godric replied in a strict voice.

"You won't," Harry assured the headmaster, chuckling, "because I'm going to bring you back on the same day, before even fetching the ladies."

"Then we will surely accompany you," Helga spoke up, "won't we, Rowena?"

"Of course," Rowena agreed.

"I'll tell you now," Godric addressed Harry, "that you're going to remain the headmaster. I'm only going to be head of Gryffindor house."

"Oh well, you could still take some time teaching me things, like, for example, a charm to make the former headmasters in their paintings sleep for a while," Harry replied, dryly, causing Minerva to snort.

"Did Albus already speak to you?" she enquired.

"Yes, and I neither trust him nor like him, and I'd love to have him sleep for as long as possible," Harry admitted.

"We'll see to that," Godric promised.

"Thanks Godric," Harry said, gratefully, before he set up exact dates when to pick up the founders for their year in the future.

 **Helga**

"Now that this is all clear," Rowena suddenly spoke up, glancing at Harry, "we should proceed with the spell to take out the Horcrux."

 _'Oh Merlin, I just hope that the boy will be all right,'_ Helga thought in concern. _'This is really dangerous and dark magic.'_

"You should head to the hospital room, before you cast such a spell. Then I could better monitor him," she suggested in a no-nonsense voice, knowing that her friends would not dare contradict.

"Are you not going to cast the spell together with us?" Godric enquired, looking at her in apparent surprise.

"No, I'm going to watch him and if necessary spell a pain-relieving potion into his system," Helga replied in a firm voice that allowed no contradiction.

"Is there anything that I could do to help?" Minerva asked, giving her a questioning look.

"No, I don't think so," she replied, looking at Salazar. "Won't it suffice if Rowena and Godric cast the spell together?"

"Yes, it will," Salazar confirmed and turned to their guest, suggesting, "Minerva, shall we go and visit the unicorns? We could go riding for a while."

"I'd like that," Minerva replied and followed Salazar in the direction of the entrance hall in obvious excitement.

When they reached the hospital room, Harry was instructed to lie on a bed, and Helga noticed that he looked absolutely horrified. ' _The poor child,_ ' she thought, ' _finding himself at a double wand point.'_

"All right," Harry muttered, giving Rowena and Godric a frightened look.

Helga noticed that her friends began to mumble a long incantation, when all of a sudden, a small, grey cloud emerged from Harry's forehead, and the boy seemed to turn unconscious. Quickly casting a diagnostic spell at the boy, just when the headmaster banished the black mist, she realised in shock that he had fallen into a coma.

"Harry has fallen into a coma," she informed her colleagues in a grave voice.

"He'll be all right," Rowena reassured him, causing Helga to sigh in relief. _'Thank Merlin for Rowena and her visions,'_ she thought, as she readied herself to spend much time in her office to monitor her many times great grandchild.

 **Minerva**

Riding the unicorns had been much fun, and Minerva had thoroughly enjoyed herself. However, when they returned to the castle, hearing that Harry was in a coma, she could only stare at Rowena in shock.

"Will he be all right?" she asked, while her thoughts went haywire. _'If Harry won't be all right, I'll never be able to return to our time,'_ she thought, terrified.

"Of course he'll be all right," Rowena finally replied in a soothing voice. "We don't know when he's going to wake up, but if you can't stand us any longer and wish to return home, we can always ask Ceridwen to take you. She's a sand phoenix and able to travel to the future as well."

Inwardly sighing in relief, Minerva replied, "I don't believe that will be necessary, as I'm sure there are many things which I could study in this time, provided that you don't mind the intrusion.

Fortunately, Harry woke up after two days; however, Helga insisted that he should not flash so soon, especially not with a passenger. Therefore, the two time-travellers remained in the past for a month, attending lessons with each of the founders like Harry had already done during the previous summer.

 **Harry**

"Sorry that we couldn't flash back sooner," Harry apologized, when they met in his room to return to the future.

"Harry, that's not your fault, and it was fully all right to spend a month here. I thoroughly enjoyed myself," Minerva replied, smiling.

"All right then, so we need to return to Sunday evening at the end of May, 1997, right?" Harry asked, causing Minerva to nod in confirmation.

Harry flashed, and just a few minutes later, they found themselves back in his room in the future.

"I just hope we've arrived at the right time," Harry mumbled, as soon as he had transformed back, and stepped out into the living room, where several members of his family were assembled, waiting for them.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, noticing the tension in the room.

"Earlier today, all Death Eaters have escaped from Azkaban," Draco informed him, seemingly frightened.

 _tbc..._


	26. Chapter 26

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Draco**

 _'I just hope that Father won't be able to do anything to me,_ ' Draco mused, absentmindedly listening to Harry, Lily, Minerva and Remus talking about the wards around the Hogwarts grounds.

"Unfortunately, I don't know much about wards," Harry said, "but I'd like to ask all teachers to work together to strengthen the wards, and I'd like to charm them to not allow anyone wearing the Dark Mark into Hogwarts. Do you think that'll be possible?"

"It probably is, but no one here knows a lot about wards," Minerva replied, sighing. "Filius is the most competent."

"Will you please excuse me for a moment?" Harry asked before explaining, "I'm going to talk to the Unspeakables. They surely have a way."

"That would be great," Draco uttered, just before Harry silently popped away.

"Don't worry, Draco," Hermione spoke up. "If the Unspeakables help the teachers, your Father won't be able to get into Hogwarts."

Draco sighed in relief, when he observed from the window in his room how the Unspeakables together with the Hogwarts teachers were out on the grounds strengthening and charming the wards just an hour later. _'Thank Merlin I have such good friends,_ ' he thought, smiling at Hermione, Susan and Dudley who were standing next to him eagerly observing the happenings on the grounds.

 **Hermione**

Two hours later, Harry returned to the founders' quarters with Remus, Lily, Minerva, Sirius and James in tow.

"That's done," he said, matter-of-factly.

 _'He really looks exhausted,'_ Hermione thought, looking up in shock, when Harry announced that he was going to spend the evening in the headmaster's office.

"Harry, don't go," she said in a soft voice, gently reaching for his arm to hold him back.

A small smile played on the boy's lips for a moment, before he replied, "If anyone needs the headmaster, they won't find me here, and I wish to perform my tasks as the headmaster completely differently from how Dumbledore did. Oh well, I'm going to announce this at breakfast tomorrow. At dinner, I was too pre-occupied with the wards problem."

"Why don't you ask Hogwarts to make a connecting door from here to your office?" Lily suggested. "That way, you could just remain here and would still know if someone came to visit you."

"That's a good idea," Harry agreed and headed over to the Parlour to speak with the castle.

Just a moment later, Hermione noticed that a new door had appeared not far from where they were sitting.

"Harry, is that door invisible from the other side?" she enquired, giving him a concerned look.

Harry nodded, as he lowered himself into the sofa next to her. "Yes, but I asked Hogwarts to only make it visible for my family and close friends, which means all of you as well as the founders when they come here, considering that they're my great grandparents."

"The founders are going to come here?" Hermione blurted out in excitement. "Is that true? When and who exactly? All of them?"

Harry grinned, eying her in apparent amusement.

"What?" Hermione asked, impatiently.

Harry cleared his throat, before he explained, "I convinced the founders, and yes, all four of them, to come here for the next school year to take over the four head of house positions."

"Harry," Minerva suddenly spoke up, "don't forget to inform Pomona and Filius about the matter at breakfast tomorrow."

"Oh right," Harry agreed, groaning. "Sorry, tonight, I just forgot everything. Oh well, seeing that it's almost curfew, I'm going to head to the Slytherin common room for a few minutes."

"Oh no, we have to leave, too," Susan blurted out, causing Hermione to sigh.

 _'I wished I could just stay here and speak with Harry for a little longer,_ ' she thought, unconsciously letting out a deep sigh.

"Hermione, if you wish you may stay here tonight," Minerva said in a soft voice. "I'll inform your roommates."

"Is that really all right? Harry?" Hermione asked, eagerly.

"Of course," Harry replied, smiling. "Just ask Dobby to fetch what you need from your dormitory. I'll be back shortly."

 **Harry**

Not feeling in the mood to walk all the way to the dungeons, Harry transformed into his phoenix form and flashed right in front of the Slytherin common room. The idea of just flashing into the room crossed his mind, however, he dismissed it, not wanting to shock the students.

He swiftly entered the room and instructed the nearest students to call everyone for a very short house meeting.

"Good evening," he spoke up, once everyone was sitting in a circle on the floor. "I just wanted to inform you that until the end of the school year, oh well, during the last two and a half weeks, I will act as your head of house." Ignoring the upcoming applause, he continued, "During the next school year, Salazar Slytherin will visit us here in this time and will be your head of house for one year."

This time, the applause was deafening, and Harry waited a few moments, before he continued, "Not even my colleagues apart from Professor McGonagall are aware of this yet; therefore, I ask you to keep this to yourselves for the time being."

"We will," Blaise spoke up, and Harry saw that many others were nodding their confirmation.

"Excuse me, sir," one of the younger students spoke up, "will Professor Slytherin teach us Potions, too?"

"No," Harry replied in a firm voice. "Slytherin as well as the other founders, who wanted to come as well when I asked him, will merely take the positions of the heads of the houses. Frankly speaking, I was considering separating teachers' positions and head of house positions, so that the heads of the houses have more time for their students. This is a mere idea though, and I would appreciate any opinions pro and contra." He gave the students a questioning look.

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Millicent was the first to reply. "I often wished Professor Snape had more time for us, but he was too busy with his other obligations."

Harry nodded in understanding, when Pansy Parkinson suddenly spoke up. "Professor, several students have suddenly vanished tonight, even Theodore, and he usually always tells me if he has to attend a Death Eater meeting or whatever."

"Yeah, Mike is gone, too," one of the seventh-years added.

Harry stared at the students in shock. _'Oh Merlin, that's probably because of the wards,'_ he mused. _'We didn't even think of that.'_ "The students who have vanished," he asked, "have they all taken the Dark Mark already?"

The older students glanced around the common room, before Blaise finally nodded and confirmed, "I think so."

Harry let out a deep sigh. "As you might have heard, there was a mass outbreak of Azkaban earlier today, and many Death Eaters have escaped. Due to this incident and because of what happened to Draco Malfoy a few years ago, the teachers consulted the Unspeakables and together renewed the wards right after dinner. I believe that this might be the problem. Probably, the wards recognised them as Death Eaters and kicked them out of Hogwarts. I'm not sure, but I'll investigate the matter."

 **Lily**

Lily was outright happy in her new position. _'Severus must have been a horrible teacher, considering how glad the students seem to be being taught by me,_ ' she mused, once she retired to her office on Monday afternoon after a long day of teaching. _'I still can't believe that he killed the headmaster though. Even knowing that he was a Death Eater and how he behaved towards Harry. It's his fault that Harry left Hogwarts after all.'_

 _'His office as well as his lab and storage room are really well organised though,_ ' she thought, feeling extremely relieved that she did not have to brew anything for the hospital wing before the end of the school year if not for something completely unexpected. ' _And in the worst case, I've got Draco with me,'_ she thought, ' _even if he should just concentrate on his Mastery and not assist with simple healing potions.'_

She was brought back to reality, when the headmaster entered her office.

"Harry," she greeted him, smiling. "What brings you here?"

Her son smiled, seemingly contented. "Hi Mum," he replied in a soft voice, "I just only wanted to see how you're getting along," he explained. "Is everything all right with your classes, the classroom and the office?"

"Everything is just perfect," Lily assured her son, somehow feeling happy that he had come to check on her.

"That's fine then," Harry said, nodding. "Since I was late for breakfast and you were already gone, I also came to warn you that Salazar is going to be here in our time for a year, officially as the head of Slytherin, however, he told me that he's very much looking forward to studying together with you during that time."

"Oh Harry, I already heard that last night, when you told us in the founders' quarters, but that's wonderful news," Lily replied, feeling extremely happy at the idea of having the founder with her for a year. "I'm very much looking forward to studying together with him. I think studying together with him is the best that could happen to any Potions Master or Mistress in our time."

"That might be true," Harry agreed, grinning. "Oh well, I'll see you at dinner," he added, before he took his leave.

 _'Oh Merlin, he's become a fine young man,'_ Lily mused, ' _in spite of having grown up with Petunia. She's changed a lot though, recently.'_

 **Harry**

On the first day of the summer holidays, Harry flashed Draco to the past, knowing that his friend was still apprehensive of his father being free again. Two days later, he took Hermione to join his friend in the time of the founders, where he also remained for a few weeks before returning to the day on which he had left, thinking, _'As the headmaster, it's better if I'm at Hogwarts during the whole summer.'_ Once a week, he left for another time travel arriving at different times on the first of August to fetch the founders to the 25th of August in his own time. _'That way, they almost have a week to adjust, before the students are going to come back for the new school year,'_ he thought. _'I just have to remember to take Godric and Salazar back to the morning of the first of August after ten o'clock next year and the ladies to the afternoon of the same day after three o'clock.'_

"That was just beyond amazing," Hermione told him, when he took her back to the future on the last day of the summer holidays. "Thank you so much for taking me to the founders' time."

"You're very welcome," Harry replied, smiling, when Draco also thanked him profusely.

HP

During the Sorting, Harry listened intensely, trying to remember the names of all the first-years and where the Hat sorted them, fully intending to keep a closer relationship to the students than his predecessor.

Right after the Sorting, he rose from his seat and addressed the students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts to the first-years and welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts to the older students," he began, causing the Great Hall to become quiet. _'Maybe they expect me to say more important things than Dumbledore used to do,_ ' Harry thought, grinning, before he began to introduce the founders.

"This year, I have very special news for you, and don't worry, immediately afterwards, we will have dinner," he said, smiling. "During this school year, the four founders of Hogwarts have travelled one thousand years into the future to spend a year with us." Motioning the founders to stand up for a moment, he introduced them, "Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor." Over huge applause, he continued, "They won't teach classes but will take the positions of the four heads of the houses and only be responsible for the students in their respective house. Your usual heads of the houses will merely be your teacher for the time being. Please let's all work together to show the founders that Hogwarts is still a brilliant school in our time."

During the huge uproar that began with this revelation, Harry sat down, grinning, only to have dinner appear on the tables an instant later.

Between the main course and the desert, Harry once again addressed the students, "As you all know, the forbidden forest is forbidden for all students. Your head girl and head boy this year will be Hermione Granger and Blaise Zabini." He waited for a moment, before the applause, mainly at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables ebbed down, before continuing, "Other than that, I have to announce one change from the previous school years." Noticing that everyone seemed to look at him in clear expectation, he explained that the gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office had been charmed to let all students and teachers through without any password, provided that he was in his office, _'or in the founders' quarters,_ ' he added for himself, before adding for everyone, "If you wish to speak to me about school problems or even private matters, you may come to see me at any time."

 _'Thank Merlin I could divert some of the attention to the founders tonight,'_ he thought in relief, when he absentmindedly took a small apple pie onto his plate. _'Next year, my announcements are going to be much longer,'_ he realised, knowing that he had to thoroughly plan the changes, especially in the teaching positions, which he was intending for the following school year.

He was brought out of his musings, when Rowena, who was sitting on his right side, enquired in a small voice, "Did you already make plans about vanquishing Voldemort?"

Harry stared at the founder in surprise. "How can I make plans?" he asked, incredulously. "I thought that he was going to attack Hogwarts, and Hermione, Draco and I were to fight him on the grounds."

Rowena smirked. "Well, yes, that was the intention; however, with the current wards in place, neither he nor his Death Eaters won't be able to enter the grounds," she informed him, causing Harry to groan.

"I don't think so," Harry disagreed. "Since Voldemort doesn't wear the Dark Mark, he should be able to access the grounds, and wasn't he just by himself in your vision," he enquired, letting out a long sigh upon realising that everyone had already finished eating. He quickly rose from his chair and bade everyone a good night, instructing the prefects to lead the first-years to their dormitories.

 _tbc..._


	27. Chapter 27

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

 _'I wished Voldemort would just show up and we could get rid of him,'_ Harry thought, when he spent the morning of Halloween in his office, working through a small pile of parchments, watching his fifteen-month-old brother, while his family and friends were working, teaching and attending classes. _'But I don't have a clue how to lure him onto the grounds, with any of his followers at that.'_ He eyed the small phial, which he kept on the shelf, on which the Sorting Hat was sitting, in disdain, wondering if it would be better to carry it around in his robe pocket. _'Oh well, since Hermione and Draco have to cast their spell first, I'll always have enough time to pop here and get it,'_ he thought, dismissing his earlier idea.

To Harry's relief, he should not have to wait long. The Halloween feast was just underway, when Hogwarts alerted Harry to the fact that Voldemort had just entered the grounds.

'Hogwarts, are you sure?' Harry thought to the castle, surprised that Hogwarts had managed to contact him through telepathy.

Receiving an affirmative response, he quickly whispered to Godric, who was sitting on his left side, "Voldemort is out on the grounds. I need to finish him off. Please don't alert the students."

With that, he waved Draco over and instructed him to take Hermione with him and head outside, before he left the Great Hall through the door behind the high table, popped into his office, fetched the phial and popped into the entrance hall, where Hermione and Draco were just heading outside, closely followed by Rowena and Godric.

 _'They were supposed to remain inside with everyone else,'_ Harry thought in annoyance. _'Due to Rowena's visions, we know exactly what we have to do anyway.'_

Before Hermione and Draco were able get near enough to the evil wizard to cast their spell, Godric apparated to a spot behind Voldemort and cast a strong, wandless stunning spell, causing the evil wizard to slump to the ground, where he remained, unmoving.

"Now," Rowena said quietly, causing Hermione and Draco to cast their spell, which they had practised hundreds of times.

As soon as Harry saw his friends lower their wands, he spelled the content of the phial straight into Voldemort's system, thinking, _'This is too easy to be true.'_

"He's dead," Godric confirmed after quickly checking on the figure on the ground.

"Thank Merlin," Harry breathed, feeling more relieved than he could remember having felt ever before. "Thank you all so much for your help."

"Let's return to the feast," Godric replied, motioning everyone back inside.

Shaking his head in confusion, Harry whispered to Rowena, "Are you sure that he's really gone now? That was much too easy."

"Of course it was," Rowena agreed, grinning, "because we knew what was going to happen in advance."

"Oh, wait a moment," Harry said, suddenly remembering something. He hurriedly returned to where Voldemort's body was lying on the grounds and transfigured the body into dragon dung, which he quickly vanished with a simple spell. _'This way, he shouldn't be able to get back to life,'_ he thought, contentedly.

 **Hermione**

Once they were back inside the Great Hall, Hermione returned to her seat at the Gryffindor table, feeling relieved upon having finished their task, however, confused on the other hand, thinking that everything had been unbelievably easy.

 _'Oh well, it was so easy because Godric was so kind to stun Voldemort, so that he couldn't attack us, before we could cast the spell,'_ she mused, before her attention became diverted to the high table, where Harry had just begun to speak to the students.

"Dear students," Harry began to speak, "a few minutes ago, Voldemort entered the grounds." Ignoring the huge gasp that followed his announcement, he quickly recounted what had happened outside the castle a short while ago. "Of course we can't be one hundred percent certain, however, we believe that Voldemort is now gone for good," he continued, just when Dobby popped up in front of him.

"Headmaster Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy sents Dobby to Malfoy Manor to ask Narcissa Malfoy if her Dark Mark was gones, and it is completely gones," Dobby squeaked in apparent excitement, causing many students to snicker in apparent amusement at the excited elf.

"Thank you very much, Draco and Dobby," Harry replied, smiling broadly. "Very well then, I believe that's proof enough that Voldemort is finally gone. I think that warrants for a day off tomorrow." He gave Professor McGonagall a questioning look and, upon receiving a confirming nod, continued, "All students from third year onwards will be allowed to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. For the younger students, we're going to have a rally beginning here in the Great Hall right after breakfast."

Huge applause followed, and Hermione happily turned back to her dinner, wondering if Harry would have time to accompany her to Hogsmeade. _'He's probably busy with the rally,'_ she thought in disappointment.

 **Harry**

"Harry," Minerva suddenly addressed him, standing behind him, "do you want me to inform the Ministry of Magic?"

"Oh right, would you mind doing that?" Harry replied, feeling extremely grateful at his deputy.

"Of course," Minerva replied, crisply, and strode out of the Great Hall, while the Halloween celebrations slowly turned into a Demise party.

"Harry," Rowena suddenly whispered from where she was sitting on his right side, "now that this is done, you should consider your next task."

"My next task?" Harry enquired, eying the ancient witch in confusion.

"Do you remember the two visions, which I showed you concerning the time after the war?" Rowena reminded him, smirking.

 _'Hermione,'_ Harry recalled, however, shook his head. "Hermione is still a student, and relationships between the headmaster and a student are certainly not tolerated," he whispered back, sighing.

"She'll finish her NEWTs in seven months' time, so there's no problem beginning to plan your wedding at this time," Rowena informed him in apparent amusement.

"Wait a moment, I haven't even asked her to become my girlfriend, let alone if she wants to marry me," Harry replied, torn between gratefulness and annoyance towards the founder.

"She will," Godric entered the conversation from his other side.

"Just ask her out tomorrow and speak with her," Rowena suggested.

"But I can't go on a date to Hogsmeade with her. What if anyone sees us?" Harry contradicted. _'Of course, that's what I'd like to do, but I just can't. It's simply not done,'_ he thought. "I also need to see to the rally," he said aloud, on the one hand feeling relieved to have found an excuse, on the other hand feeling disappointed.

"Rowena, Helga, Salazar and I will see to the rally," Godric promised. "You just go and enjoy yourself. Why don't you take her elsewhere? Diagon Alley or wherever?"

"I could take her to the Fairy Alley," Harry thought aloud, "if she wants to go that is."

"Of course she'll want to go," Lily spoke up, having become alerted to the conversation by Godric's and Harry's increased voices.

 **Amelia**

Knowing that Sirius would be late, as Sirius and James were roaming Hogwarts in their canine forms, while the Halloween feast was held in the Great Hall, Amelia had decided to spend the evening in her office catching up with some work.

All of a sudden, Cornelius Fudge entered her office, seemingly upset and closely followed by Minerva McGonagall.

"Cornelius, Minerva," she greeted her unexpected guests, only to enquire, "Cornelius, what's wrong?"

Apparently realising that the minister was too upset about something to explain, Minerva quickly told her what had happened at Hogwarts during the evening.

"I wanted to go and award Mr. Potter the Order of Merlin first class for vanquishing Voldemort, but the Floo won't let me step through to Hogwarts," Fudge interrupted her at one stage.

 _'Provided that the Floo works, that can only mean one thing,_ ' Amelia thought. _'He must be a Death Eater.'_

Turning to Minerva, she enquired, "Do I understand it correctly that Godric, Rowena, Hermione and Draco all assisted Harry to defeat Voldemort?"

"Yes," Minerva confirmed, firmly.

"Cornelius, I'm not sure that I understand you," Amelia said, slowly. "They vanquished Voldemort with five people, and you only want to award the Order of Merlin to one of them?"

"We can't award the Order of Merlin to five people," Cornelius scoffed. "Potter was supposed to be the one to vanquish him anyway."

"Nonsense," Amelia decided. "All five of them are going to get the reward, and I'll go to Hogwarts on your behalf right away." After a short detour to the minister's office to fetch what she needed, she stepped into the fireplace, shouting, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts."

 _'Thank Merlin, it worked,_ ' she thought, feeling relieved when Minerva arrived just a moment later.

"He must be a Death Eater. I'll have my Aurors question him under Veritaserum, as soon as I'm back," she told the deputy headmistress, who gave her a confirming nod.

"It's time to get rid of him anyway," Minerva concurred, before the two witches left for the Great Hall.

 **Hermione**

All of a sudden, Professor McGonagall, who had been absent for about an hour, returned to the Great Hall with Amelia in tow.

 _'Amelia,'_ Hermione thought, happily, casting the friendly witch a broad smile, which was returned right away.

"Dear students," Amelia spoke up, standing in front of the high table, "upon hearing what occurred at Hogwarts tonight, I came on behalf of the Minister of Magic to award five witches and wizards the Order of Merlin first class. Hermione Granger, Rowena Ravenclaw, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy and Godric Gryffindor, may I please ask to come here for a moment?"

Feeling as if she was stuck in a dream, Hermione slowly stepped forward until she stood in front of Amelia together with Harry and the others.

While Amelia spoke with the two Founders to hand over the rewards, Harry, who was standing opposite of her, right next to Amelia, suddenly thought to her.

'Hermione, will you accompany me to Fairy Alley tomorrow?'

 _'Of course, I'd love that,'_ Hermione thought, for once regretting that she had not learned telepathy yet. "Yes," she whispered through the overall commotion, casting the love of her life an enthusiastic smile, just when Amelia turned to her.

 **Harry**

When everyone returned to their seats, Harry motioned Amelia to sit next to him at the high table. Accepting the invitation, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement informed Harry about the minister's predicament.

"A Death Eater?" Harry blurted out in shock.

"Probably. I'm going to have the Aurors question him," Amelia replied, pensively.

"The Aurors or the Unspeakables?" Harry asked, sharply. "Shall I contact Raros and ask him to see to it?"

"Yes please," Amelia replied, seemingly grateful.

'Raros, we think that the minister must be a Death Eater, as he wasn't able to take the Floo to Hogwarts,' Harry quickly thought to his mentor and former boss. 'Could you go and check him out please? Oh, and Voldemort is dead by the way. We got him here on the Hogwarts grounds tonight.'

A minute later, he received a response. 'I'm on my way together with Croaker. Congratulations for your victory. I'll contact you later on.'

Just when Harry officially ended the feast, Raros and Croaker entered the Great Hall, closely followed by two dogs.

"The former Minister of Magic has received a one-way ticket to Azkaban for being a Death Eater," Croaker informed everyone at the high table, causing James and Sirius to transform back and stare at the Unspeakable with apparent amusement.

"Good riddance," Sirius spoke up what everyone else thought.

"Well, Amelia," Croaker continued, "I believe that James here as the new head of the Wizengamot should lead the election for a new minister, and let me tell you that we, the Unspeakables, wish to see you on the post."

Amelia chuckled. "Well, if the Unspeakables deem me adequate for the position, I'm available. In that case, I want Sirius to become my successor."

'I'd love that. Amelia would make a much better minister than stupid Fudge,' Harry thought, as he headed to the headmaster's office to spend a few minutes with Fawkes and check if there was anything for him to urgently do before retiring to his room in the founders' quarters.

"The evil one is dead," Harry informed Fawkes, who let out a series of happy trills, which to Harry's chagrin woke up Dumbledore.

"Are the rumours true, my boy?" Dumbledore enquired from his portrait, causing Harry to inwardly groan.

"Yes sir, Voldemort is gone," he confirmed, shortly, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. "Professor," he asked, "did you really believe that Snape was on our side?"

Dumbledore let out a deep sigh. "Yes, my boy, I was sure about that for a long time. However, I believe that his priorities changed at one stage, probably about the time when you brought your parents back from the past. Severus grieved about the loss of your mother for years; however, seeing her and your father back and in a way still unreachable for him, he probably changed sides. I don't know if it's true, but that's what I thought, and I didn't have a chance to convince him otherwise, before he killed me."

"All right, sir. I'm sorry, sir. Good night," Harry replied and retired to the founders' quarters, where he informed his friends and family about his short conversation with his predecessor.

"Harry," Rowena spoke up in a soft voice, "do not in any way think that it's your fault. The fact that you brought your parents here to the future did not only save their and your grandparents' lives, but you also gained a little brother, and you made many people very happy – here and in our time. You did the right thing."

"Exactly," Hermione spoke up, before she leaned over, pulling him into a long kiss.

 _tbc..._

 _Just so you know, I have partly re-written most chapters from chapter 14 onwards, mostly taken all scenes with Ceridwen out of this story - due to my readers' wishes. Probably, there will be just one more chapter before this story is finished. Depending on the resonance or lack thereof, this chapter (27) will be the final chapter._


	28. Chapter 28

**Away and Back**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
_

 _I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

 **Harry**

When everyone else above third year readied themselves to leave the castle for the day, Harry pulled Hermione into one of the alcoves near the entrance hall.

"Are you ready to head to Fairy Alley?" he enquired.

"Of course," Hermione replied, and in the faint light of the alcove, Harry had the impression as if she was smiling happily.

Reaching for Hermione's arm, Harry apparated them into the garden of King John's castle, knowing that there were rarely any visitors this early in the morning, before they entered Fairy Alley.

"If you don't mind," Harry spoke up, hesitantly, "I'd like to go and visit Ms. Elfine."

Hermione stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Draco's mother," Harry added, just to make sure that they were speaking about the same person. "I'd like to invite her to visit us at Hogwarts. According to Draco, he'd really like her to visit us, but she's always declined."

"So you believe if you as the headmaster invites her, she might come," Hermione said, seemingly thoughtful. "That might be. Let's try it out," she added, striding ahead in clear determination.

 _'That's my Hermione,_ ' Harry thought, smiling in amusement.

To Harry's relief, Ms. Elfine was a very friendly woman. When she first opened the door, seeing two unknown humans stand in front of her house, she seemed very apprehensive, however, when Hermione introduced them as Draco's best friends, she motioned them inside in apparent excitement.

"Ms. Elfine, we'd like to invite you to visit us at Hogwarts," Harry spoke up, explaining, "Draco is good friends with my whole family, and we, my parents and my grandparents would really like to get to know you."

When Ms. Elfine hesitantly agreed, Harry promised to collect her after breakfast the following morning and take her to Hogwarts to meet his family.

Before leaving, Harry asked the friendly fairy if she could recommend a coffee shop at Fairy Alley, where he and Hermione could spend some quiet time together, and Ms. Elfine gave them clear instructions and cast them a knowing look, when they left, thanking her profusely.

"Harry, we didn't bring your Clover Cauldron," Hermione suddenly remembered, causing Harry to smirk.

"We don't need it," he reassured her. "Draco told me that he heard from his mother that Gringotts has recently opened a small branch at Fairy Alley and that it's now possible to pay with the currency of the British magical world."

"Oh, all right," Hermione replied in surprise, just when they entered the coffee shop, which was indeed very cosy and offered a nice view over the clover garden.

To their surprise, the menu was not different from those in human coffee shops, and they quickly ordered something to drink.

"Hermione," Harry suddenly spoke up after a minute of quietly enjoying their drinks, "would you perhaps like to become my wife?"

Hermione looked up in what seemed pleasant shock, before she replied, "Yes, Harry, I'd love to become your wife."

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized, while his thoughts went haywire. _'She agreed!_ ' his mind screamed at him, while he promised to look for betrothal rings together. "You know everything went so fast with Voldemort's demise only yesterday," he explained.

"I fully understand," Hermione replied, smiling, and together, the two love-birds walked through Fairy Alley looking for a jeweller, which they finally found at the other side of the clover garden.

By the time they left Fairy Alley, each of them was wearing a ring with a Celtic pattern, equipped with all possible safety charms that the jeweller could apply as well as a telepathy charm, which allowed them to communicate through telepathy at all times. Hermione's ring was decorated with two white and two green little stones on each side of the Claddagh symbol.

"It's just beautiful," Hermione sighed, happily, as she eyed her ring with apparent happiness.

"I like it, too," Harry fully agreed.

 **Draco**

At dinner after the Hogsmeade visit, Harry instructed his whole family to gather in the Founders quarters right after breakfast the following morning.

 _'We almost always meet there on class free days anyway,'_ Draco thought in surprise. _'I wonder what's so special tomorrow.'_

He almost stared in shock, however, when Harry apparated into the Founders' living room with his mother in tow.

"Mum," Draco blurted out in disbelief, when Harry began to introduce her as Ms. Elfine, his mother.

"How nice of you to visit us here at Hogwarts," Rowena greeted their guest and introduced everyone.

To Draco's relief, everyone was very friendly and welcoming to his mother – not that he had expected anything else – and she seemed to feel quite all right in spite of the fact that she never wanted to venture into the human world as much as Draco had tried to convince her.

 _'Why is Harry always able to achieve whatever he wants?_ ' he mused in slight amusement, feeling extremely happy to have his own mother with him for once.

It was only later on, after Harry had taken his mother home to Fairy Alley that Rowena spoke up, pensively. "Ms. Elfine would make a brilliant head of Ravenclaw, considering how much she knows about the magical word, and even if you want to separate the head of the house positions from the teaching positions, she could still teach a few classes of Fairy knowledge."

"That's a fantastic idea," Hermione blurted out, causing Draco to grin. ' _Leave it to Mione to not miss a chance to learn something new,'_ he thought in amusement.

"Good luck with convincing her to live in the human world," he spoke up, smirking.

Harry gave him a thoughtful look. "I agree that it would be just amazing," he spoke up. "Draco, will you accompany me to Fairy Alley to ask her next Sunday?"

Draco let out a long sigh. "All right, I'll accompany you, but you will be the one trying to convince her," he conceded.

 **Hermione**

To Hermione's relief, Ms. Elfine finally agreed to take the offered positions from the new school year onwards. She agreed with Harry to try it out until the Christmas holidays and then decide if she would remain at Hogwarts and close her small business on Fairy Alley or if she would return home.

 _'I hope she's going to stay,_ ' Hermione thought, before a sudden idea crossed her mind. _'Oh no, next school year, I won't be a student anymore. Will I still be able to take her class?'_

When she voiced her question at the next opportunity, everyone blurted out laughing.

"Since Ms. Elfine has taken the head of house position, she's going to teach only one or two classes at the most, and those are probably going to take place sometime during the weekend," Harry reassured her, grinning.

"But I won't be a student anymore," Hermione replied, worriedly.

"That doesn't matter," Lily spoke up in a soft voice. "I believe that such a special class will surely be open to any staff member as well. By the way, Harry, have you already thought about the other positions for the next school year?"

Hermione looked from Lily to her fiancé in curiosity, thinking, _'Oh, I'd so love to remain at Hogwarts as a teacher. I just hope Harry will consider me.'_

Harry smirked. "Well, I've put some thought into the matter, however, I need to hear your opinions," he replied, before he began to explain his ideas.

"Well, for the heads of the houses, I'd like Blaise for Slytherin, provided that he agrees."

"That would be brilliant," Draco voiced his consent, and Hermione had to agree. _'He's really nice, and as far as I've observed, everyone in Slytherin seems to like him,'_ she thought.

"I've toyed with the idea of making James the head of Gryffindor, even if he could still remain at Hogwarts as an Auror," Harry continued, giving them a questioning look.

"Why not," Minerva was the first to agree, and everyone nodded their consent.

"Well, I could as well quit the Aurors," James spoke up. "I could still roam the castle in my dog form if the students don't need me."

"And Hufflepuff?" Helga spoke up, eyeing Harry with apparent eagerness.

Harry let out a long sigh. "Frankly speaking, I'd like Petunia on the position, however, we can't do that, considering that she's a muggle."

"Nonsense," Salazar growled, glaring at Harry. "We can simply give her magic."

"How?" Hermione asked in bewilderment, thinking of her own parents who would surely love to be part of the magical world.

"What?" Petunia gasped, staring at the Founder in what seemed to be a combination of bewilderment and hope.

 **Helga**

Glancing at Susan, she enquired in a friendly voice, "You're Dudley's girlfriend, right Susan?"

"Yes," Susan replied, smiling.

"Would you, Susan, and you, Petunia, allow me to cast a spell to see if your blood was compatible?" Helga asked, glancing from Susan to Petunia, who used to visit the extended family in the Founders' quarters every Sunday.

"The magic giving person and the receiving person must not be relatives, however, need to have a close relationship," Salazar explained, while Helga cast her spell, seeing that the two women's blood was indeed compatible.

"Well, I suggest that you both consider if you wish to proceed with it, and when you have decided, we can do it at any time," she said, gently, giving Petunia an encouraging smile.

"If it's possible, I want it," Petunia blurted out, only to add as an afterthought, "if Susan is comfortable with it."

"I don't mind," Susan replied, smiling, causing Helga to stand from her seat. "Very well then, let's head to one of the guest room and go on with it," she suggested, smiling, when Susan and Petunia eagerly followed her.

 **Harry**

 _'Aunt Petunia a witch,'_ Harry thought in disbelief. "Oh well, I guess we have Petunia as the Hufflepuff head then," he spoke up, smirking. "Now, I can offer the following teaching positions," he continued, "Arithmancy, Charms and Divination, and we also need a librarian. Now if you allow me to make a few suggestions," he paused, glancing around only to realise that everyone was looking at him in clear expectation, "Granddad, would you be willing to teach Arithmancy?"

His grandfather stared at him in apparent disbelief. "Harry, I'd like that very much, however, I believe that there are younger people who need to get a chance," he replied in a soft voice.

Harry shrugged. "I thought you'd be best for Arithmancy and Hermione for Charms. However, if you prefer it the other way round…" He looked from his grandfather to Hermione, questioningly.

"Hermione, which would you prefer?" his grandfather enquired, giving Harry's fiancée an encouraging look.

"Either of them would be absolutely brilliant," Hermione blurted out in apparent happiness. "Thank you so much, Harry for considering me."

"Well, it's up to the two of you," Harry urged them, causing Hermione to speak again. "Mr. Potter, would Charms be all right for you?"

"Of course," the older wizard replied, gently, causing Harry to give his grandfather a confirming nod.

"All right then, Hermione for Arithmancy, and Granddad for Charms," he repeated, trying to remember everything that they had decided. _'Oh well, I can always ask Hermione. She always knows exactly who said what in a conversation,'_ he thought in relief. ' _She really is the best._ '

"For Divination, I don't have a clue whom to ask, and for the position of the librarian," he interrupted himself looking at his grandmother, "Granny, would you like to take the position?"

"I'd love that," his grandmother immediately agreed.

"I know whom you could ask for Divination," Rowena spoke up. "My sister Roxana is a Seer just like myself, and I know that she'd love living here in the future. Just go to a time after we'll be back in the past and ask her," she suggested.

"All right, I'll do that then," Harry agreed, feeling extremely relieved that he had been able to fill all the positions that were going to be vacant after the end of the school year. _'Oh well, I still need to ask Petunia and Roxana.'_

"Very well then," he continued just when Helga, Susan and Petunia joined them, seemingly happy. "There are still two more positions which I wish to fill next summer. "Dudley, would you perhaps like to teach Muggle Studies? All magically raised children will have to attend the class for two years."

"If you deem me adequate for the position, of course," Dudley replied, grinning.

Harry nodded, contentedly. "Susan, I wish you to teach the newly invented subject Traditions of the Magical world, which all muggleborns must attend for two years. How is that?"

"If you think that I'm competent to teach such a thing, I'd love it," Susan agreed, seemingly happy.

"There's something else, which I'd like the two of you to do," Harry continued, slowly. Seeing that he held their attention, he explained, "Considering that you won't have as many classes as everyone else, I'd like to ask you to together research muggle devices like mobile phones and personal computers to get them to work in the magical world."

"Oh, that sounds like great fun," Dudley blurted out, grinning at Susan. "We're in."

"I'd be willing to help with that as well, if you need any assistance," Remus spoke up, smiling.

"Yes please," Susan replied, eagerly. "Thank you, Remus."

"What about Draco?" Hermione suddenly spoke up, looking at their blond friend, questioningly.

"I'm going to open my own apothecary in Hogsmeade," Draco replied, "just next to the twins' joke shop. I'll also supply Hogwarts with potions, so that Lily only has to brew urgent things apart from teaching Potions."

HP

 _'Thank Merlin, everything is fixed for the upcoming school year,'_ Harry thought after a very turbulent summer and a quadruple wedding. While Harry and Hermione as well as Susan and Dudley had already decided six months ago to hold their wedding together with Sirius and Amelia, Remus and Roxana, who had come to the future on New Year's Day, had decided in the last minute to get married as well.

 _'There's only one thing, which I still need to remedy,'_ Harry thought, as he motioned Hermione to come with him to Potter Manor for a moment.

"I thought that since we aren't living at Potter Manor anymore but spend the whole year at Hogwarts with our extended family, we should take Buckbeak back to Hagrid under the condition that he's only allowed in classes from fifth year onwards," Harry explained to his wife, giving her a questioning look.

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Hermione agreed and eagerly followed him out onto the grounds to fetch the hippogriff.

Two hours later, they were flying over the lake approaching the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Back to where everything began," Hermione voiced her thoughts, having to shout for Harry to understand her against the wind.

"Back to where everything began and where our future lies," Harry agreed, smiling, once they had given Buckbeak back to Hagrid.

"I'm so happy," his wife added, before he pulled her into a long kiss.

 **The End**


End file.
